Anything but Normal
by Equidox
Summary: Bendy and the Ink Machine Crossover with Cuphead, Villainous, and Epic Mickey. This is a BATIM AU story: Bendy and Boris and the Quest for the Ink Machine. New alliances with old enemies and new friends are made but will they make it to the machine in time and save the world before it's too late...
1. Anything But Normal

**Ch. Anything But Normal**

"Hehehe..." soft quacks of laughter echo around the park, birds chirping too one another as they watch cautiously as a duck wearing a blue shirt quietly positions himself to pour water on a young fox sleeping on a park bench.

"Donald! Where are you we have to get going for our show!" In the distance a mouse was calling out for the mischievous duck with a bunny following not far behind, he glanced over his shoulder cursing as he saw Mickey and Oswald running toward them. He turned back to the sleeping fox and chuckled dumping the bucket of ice cold water on top of her.

"AH! THAT'S COLD!" The young woman shouted as she was jolted awake, her dark green hair now plastered to her head as her sapphire eyes shot open wide only to turn into a menacing glare seconds later. Her lovely orange and black fur, once fluffy was now glued to her showing off her wavy figure.

"DONALD!" Mickey and the fox shouted at the same time as the mouse and rabbit slowed down to a stop, Oswald saw the fox shaking and shivering from the cold water and chuckled quietly to himself as Donald collapsed to the ground laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE WAS PRICELESS! HAHAHAH!" Donald cackled as he rolled on the ground wiping tears from his eyes, after a few seconds the duck finally calmed down and stood up. Looking into the burning eyes of the fox he couldn't help but erupt into another fit of laughter,

"Donald that wasn't very nice!" Mickey said placing his gloved hands on his hips, the fox growled, "You'll pay for this duck...just you watch..."

"Karma are you alright? You still have time to go home and change before the show..." Mickey said cautiously as he watched her ring out her tail, "That's fine Mick. I shan't take long...I'll see you guys shortly." Shaking herself out, she walked away gently ringing out her delicate ears as she did. As she walked through the busy streets of Toon Town she noticed a train pulling into the station letting off passengers, 'I wonder if they all came just for the show...Man I'm FREEZING that darn duck! Oooo...is he going to pay.' Karma sighed upon reaching her quaint little house not far from where the show is to be held, racing up the stairs to her bedroom she shed the soaking clothing and changed into something more _fiery._ Glancing up at the clock on her wall she quickly grabbed a bag and through her scrubs and doctor's jacket into it as she bolted out the door locking up behind her.

"Karma! There you are hurry and get into position!" Mickey directed her to her spot in the line behind Mickey and the bunnies, tossing her bag to Oswald who stood along the sidelines, she got into position.

'Alright Karm, just concentrate and try not to burn anyone this time...' Karma thought to herself as the show started, her hands glowed with blue flames setting alight the wooden batons in her hands. Not a moment later the show started, keeping her distance from Mickey and the group behind her she twirled and twisted her batons lighting up the evening sky. Every now and then she would look out into the crowd to gauge their reactions, when she looked this time there was a cute little demon smiling with his friend, an adorable wolf whose eyes glowed with excitement as he watched the show. Near the end of the show, her arms started to grow weary and she had to watch what she was doing so not to burn the bunnies that danced around her. 'Oh thank heavens we're at the end, I don't think I could do this much longer!' Karma thought relieved when the show ended and she was able to blow out the batons, "Great show everyone!" Mickey said as he walked passed her patting her on the shoulder and giving her a big thumbs up. She smiled lightly grabbing a bottle of water as she walked over to Oswald to retrieve her bag, "Thanks Oswald." Karma smiled at the downcast rabbit who weakly smiled back, "Auntie Karma do you want to come to the store with us?" One of the many MANY little bunnies asked lightly tugging on her outfit, taking out her phone she looked at the time and frowned.

"Sorry bun, but duty calls. I would let your uncle Mickey know where you are going though." She smiled turning to see that Mickey had wondered over to talk to a few fans, giving Oswald a soft pat on the shoulder she threw her bag over her shoulder and jogged to the hospital a few blocks away. Only tonight was going to be anything but normal...

~ With Mickey ~

After congratulating everyone on a wonderful show, Mickey spotted a couple of fans walking up to him. Smiling to himself, he met them halfway.

"Heya boys did you enjoy the show?" Mickey said making the adorable wolf gasp excitedly.

"Y-yes Mr. Mickey!"

"Eh, it was okay..." Mickey smiled at the boys as Oswald and one of his bunny children walked up, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Uncle Mickey, me and daddy are going to the store. You want anything?" He smiled and patted the little bunny on the head and was about to say something when he suddenly heard coughing and someone throwing up behind him. His eyes widen as he turns and sees the little demon boy throwing up a black substance, he turns to Oswald having a panic attack.

"Someone get him out of here!" Mickey says as Donald runs over and drags him away as he watches in horror and sadness as the boy fights through his attack.

'Oh no...Not another one...that poor boy.' As the boy's fit comes to an end Mickey sighs sadly.

"Bendy, hold on! I'm here!" The wolf kid said trying to comfort the little demon kid.

"Are you okay? Should we call an ambulance?" Mickey asks watching as Bendy took a few deep breaths and was back to normal again, "Uh, no thanks...I hate doctors..., right Boris?"

"Huh? O-oh r-right, we had a bad experience..." Boris said nervously as he helped Bendy stand up right.

"O-oh well...alright then…Is there anything I can do for you boys? Hey I know! Would you like to join me for lunch? My treat..." Mickey said trying to smile.

"R-really?! That would be great! Thank You!" Boris jumped up excitedly causing Bendy to chuckle, "Hehe...hey Boris your inner fangirl is showing..."

~ With Karma ~

"Oh man I'm getting too old for this..." Karma huffed as she quickly changed clothes in a bathroom by the nurses' station, "Come on Karma you're taking a million years in there!" A sassy bunny nurse said tapping on the bathroom door. Rolling her tired eyes playfully she shoved her clothes into her side bag, straightened her lab coat and scrubs and walked out of the bathroom accidentally hitting the rabbit nurse in the face with the door.

"OW! WHAT THE HELL KARMA?!" She screeched rubbing her nose as she glared at the giggling fox, "I'm sorry Fanny but if you don't want to be hit then don't stand behind the bathroom door." The bunny glared at her friend before huffing and plopping down in a chair at the nurse's station, "I don't know how you could be a doctor Karm, and you aren't even old enough!"

"I'm twenty-one, that's old enough! You're just jealous because I out-rank you." Karma said chuckling as she looked over the floor charts for that night, "Yea whatever Karma...did you even go to medical school?"

"Didn't have too when you are the child prodigy of one of the best doctors around." She replied slyly making Fanny's face fluster in frustration..."Oh that's right...well good for you..." Fanny rolled her eyes playfully smirking at the young doctor as she looked over her last assignment for the evening.

"You get anything interesting tonight Karm?"

"Not unless you count the recovery ward as 'exciting" She said using air quotes. Fanny giggled, "Well you could always sing to them again...that seems to soothe them some."

"That's true." Karma said smiling just as the emergency room doors slammed open and a young man with a cup-head ran in with a young man bleeding in his arms. Both girls gasped,

"Dear Lord what happened?!" Karma exclaimed quickly running to get the young man onto a stretcher as Fanny ran up and began to hook him to IV's and something to help stop the bleeding. The young man with a cup-head was mumbling something before turning and bolting out of the emergency room, 'Well this is going to be interesting...' Karma thought as she got ready for surgery.

~ With Bendy and Boris ~

On the way to the restaurant Bendy suddenly got slammed into the wall by a young man with a cup-head, "Did you miss me? Don't worry this will be quick and painless..." he had his pointer finger pointed at Bendy's forehead as it started to glow blue Bendy did the only thing he could...he kicked the young man where the sun doesn't shine causing him to fall to his knees and grimace...

"BORIS RUN!" Bendy said running away as Boris ran from Cuphead's brother, "Why you little...so that's how you want to play it huh?!" Cuphead said getting up and chasing after the boys, his finger glowing blue as he fired a shot after Bendy who ducked out of the way causing the stray blast to hit his brother Mugman.

"M-Mugs?" Whimpering Cuphead falls to his knees as the boys stand there shocked, Cuphead rushes to his brother's side and sobs, "M-Mugs h-hang in there just l-let me, just let me take you to...Hey! Hey no! Open your Eyes! Open them now!" He gently picks up Mugman bridal style, Boris whimpers, "S-sir please let us h-help..."

"Did I say your death was going to be quick and painless? My bad I meant that I'm going to enjoy tearing you limb from limb." Cups says with glowing red eyes as Bendy grabs Boris and tries to run,

"Let's get out of here Boris, he's gone crazy!"

"B-but what about?" Boris says starting to cry as they start to run,

"He'll help him out on his own, it's not our problem." As they run Bendy notices that Boris is crying and rolls his eyes, "For the love of why are you crying Boris? They both deserve to die!"

"B-but they didn't seem all that bad s-something or someone is making them do this. I just know it...The poor guy…h-he just shot his own brother!" Bendy's glare softens as he slows the pace thinking they are far enough away. Bendy gently pulls Boris' face down to his level and squishes his face saying in baby-talk, "Who's my wittle woofy?" Boris smiles and mumbles a little as Bendy wipes a stray tear from his eye, "I can't hear you."

"Here I am..." Boris answers louder and smiling as Bendy pulls him in for a hug, "Oh my gosh Boris! Are you okay?!" Mickey shouts running up to them, "W-we heard a gunshot a-and I was so worried are you okay?" Mickey wraps Boris into a tight hug as Bendy just stands there watching the entire thing, Boris blushes and smiles as his idol comforts him.

"Aww…I missed you too buddy!" Mickey says smiling as Boris realizes what is going on and tries to play it cool.

"I-I mean what's up? So like, what you up to?" Boris says trying to act casual not realizing that he is leaning on Bendy's head, Mickey completely oblivious to Boris's sudden change just answers his question.

"We heard some loud noises, so we just wanted to check it out." Mickey says as Donald stands behind him crossing his arms, "I bet Karma's got her hands full at the hospital…"

"Who's Karma?" Boris asks innocently as they enter into a nearby restaurant where a certain black cat was sipping his tea and reading a newspaper. As they enter Mickey offers them supper before explaining about the multi-talented doctor,

"She's a doctor here at the local hospital and one of the performers in my show! We've known each other for years so we're practically siblings!" As they walk closer to the counter with Donald and Oswald pulling up the rear, the saddened bunny sees a familiar looking cat at the bar and without realizing what he was about to do he rushed up and hugged the cat from behind.

"Holy crap!" Donald exclaims as Mickey and the boys try to get Oswald to snap out of it before he kisses the cat, "Donald watch your language! Ozzy! What are you doing?!"

Finally waking up from his trance Oswald blushes and lets go as Mickey tries to comfort him, "Ozzy what's gotten into you? Are you okay? Maybe you should eat something…" pausing he looks back to the cat and apologizes, "I'm so sorry I don't know what's come over him…"

"Oh no that's alright…who can say no to a hug? Hehe…." The cat sits there blushing as Mickey directs Oswald over toward a table, Boris and Bendy look around the small shop when Bendy's wide eyes realize who's sitting at the counter. Boris notices as well and urges Bendy to go talk to him,

"Go talk to him!"

"Okay okay, I'm going…" Bendy tries to contain himself by taking a few deep breaths and casually strolls up to the counter.

"Um…H-hey Mr. Felix right? I love your books."

"Oh why thank you, I'm happy you love them Mr.….?"

"Bendy…my name's Bendy! And it's a pleasure to meet you." Felix smiles with a tinge of blush,

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Bendy, oh there go your friends…the mouse and the uh…bunny…" Felix says dreamily not really noticing as Bendy explains why they were there.

"Not really, Mr. Mickey just invited us to lunch for some reason…" He shrugged as Boris walked over passing Mickey and Oswald,

"Is everything okay Mr. Mickey?" Boris asked innocently wondering what was wrong,

"Oh everything is fine, Ozzy just needs some rest. I'll be with you shortly." Mickey says setting Oswald down at a table, "Stay here and I'll get you something to eat." Oswald sighs and starts writing on his little blackboard.

"What's this? S…o…r…r…y…? Oh you're okay Ozzy! I can't stay mad at you!" Mickey says hugging the sad bun.

Bendy and Boris sit down at a table as well and gush about how they both met their idols,

"Wow I met THE Felix! He says he's going to write another book soon!" Boris smiles a cheeky grin and winks, "Looks like we both met our idols today…This seems like a good day."

"SLAM!" Both boys look over to the door to see a very angry Cuphead, Boris's fluffy wolf ears flatten to the sides of his head as Bendy starts to pull him in the opposite direction of the crazed man.

"M-Mister? Is your brother okay?"

"Boris, No we need to get outta here!" Bendy says through gritted teeth. A few seconds later Cuphead starts to laugh hysterically and fires up his 'hand' gun. Bendy and Boris duck out of the way of his blast and dart out the door with Cuphead close behind.

Darting into a nearby alleyway they peer around the corner to see Cuphead looking for them, "No need to hide you guys…I'm just going to KILL you that's all…and I'm going to enjoy it…" With eyes a blaze he scans his surroundings before continuing his little speech, "I'll always find you…I'll make sure you never rest…Never….never…" quietly he repeats the word never over and over as he begins to sob and breakdown falling to his knees.

"A-alright Mugs let's split up. A-and you l-look over t-there r-right…n-n-no! My right you idiot! Yay teamwork! Hahahaha!" Peeking around the corner they watch as Cuphead laughs hysterically, Boris's eyes fill up with tears as Bendy just sighs trying to think of what to do. As Boris goes to take a step forward Bendy holds his arm out in front of him and shakes his head, "No bro I know what you're thinking and I'm not going to let you take such a risk. I'll do it myself." Taking a few steps out Boris nods and watches sadly as Bendy peaks around the corner only to have his eyes widen as Cuphead holds his finger to his head, glowing blue and about to pull the trigger.

"HEY! What the heck are you doing!? Are you crazy?!" Bendy yells grabbing Cuphead's hand and forcing it down toward the ground, with the most defeated look on his face and tears flowing down his cheeks he whimpers to Bendy.

"Who am I kidding? I killed him…I'm the one that needs to die…" Bendy stays silent for a moment before trying to comfort him,

"You know full well that was an accident, it wasn't your fault."

"My fault or not I still shot him….none of this matters now…it's all over…its either both of us or nothing…" a fresh round of tears starts up as Cuphead leans forward and cries into Bendy's chest, "I just wish I could have told him that I loved him you know?" Bendy wraps his arms around him in a comforting manner and just lets him cry,

'I can't imagine what he's going through…A world without Boris? That'd be awful.' After a few seconds of sobbing Cuphead goes silent drawing Bendy's attention…he listens and realizes that he's still breathing and sighs relieved.

"B-Bendy is he okay?" Boris whimpers nearing the two as Bendy stands up holding Cuphead bridal style and nods, "Yea he's just sleeping…come on we should probably take him to the hospital."

~ With Karma at the Hospital ~

It was getting late and Fanny had left already leaving you and Dovil alone for the evening, as you were making your rounds you hear faint talking echo throughout the hallway. 'That sounds like Dovil…probably another patient.' As she rounds the corner she sees Dovil talking to the young demon that she spotted briefly during that afternoon's show.

"Please don't tell him about us when he wakes up." Dovil nodded and watched confused as the demon and his wolf companion walked out the door, "Hey Dovil what was that all about?" Karma said walking up from behind making the chick jump slightly.

"O-oh Doctor, just another patient…he tried to commit suicide…poor dear…" Dovil said pointing into the room next to her at a familiar man lying in bed fast asleep.

"Hmm….thank you nurse, I can take it from here. You better get going before Fanny gives you an earful for missing drinks with her." Karma giggled watching the chick's eyes widen in surprise before quickly grabbing her bag and heading out the door, "Thanks! See you tomorrow!"

Taking a deep breath she glanced at the clock on the wall before looking out the window and watching as the sun finished it's decent. She sighed running her hand through her dark green hair before sitting down at the nurses' station and starting paperwork for that evening, every now and then she'd stretch and look at the clock.

'Wow 10:00 o'clock already? Better make my rounds,' she thought standing up and stretching her tired bones, the floor check went off without a hitch until she got to Mugman's room… 'Sniffles? Is he….crying?' she thought poking her head in and noticed that Mugman was still asleep but he had tears rolling down his cheek. Karma smiled softly and gently walked into the room so not to disturb him and stood above him placing one hand onto his forehead to check for a fever and sighed, "Good no fever…" Sighing she wiped a tear from his cheek and softly began to hum unaware of someone walking through the emergency room doors toward her station.

Singing softly to the sleeping teen she watches for any signs of abnormalities in his machines, when she turns back to him ending her soft tune she smiles softly noticing that Mugman was no longer crying but sleeping peacefully once more.

"Sigh, good no more tears kiddo…" She stands smiling and walks out of the room quietly closing the door behind her,

"You have a lovely voice Karma….it'd be a shame if anything happened to it…" Her ears perked up before folding flat against her head, gripping the door handle briefly she let go and turned toward the voice.

"Hanson…what are you doing here this late? Your shift doesn't start for another few hours…" Eyes narrowed she stared at the brawny wolf, she noticed his hair was a complete mess and his red eyes told everything, "You're drunk Hanson. Go home and come back when you're sober."

"Hmm…what pretty eyes you have Karma…you know I've always found you…very attractive…" Karma's eyes started to water, her nose wrinkling at the stench of booze on his breath.

"Sorry but I'm not into work relationships…" This angered the wolf causing him to pin her to the wall next to Cuphead's room making the young cup stir awake,

"C'mon baby…don't be like that…Here I've got something that will loosen you up." Hanson said reaching for a syringe filled with black liquid in his back pocket,

"No thanks, I have a job to do Hanson." She said pushing him away from her, Cuphead now fully awake sat up and stared out the open door as a very beautiful doctor walked by with an angry wolf stalking behind her.

Hanson grabbed her from behind, smiling as she struggled to get out of his grasp before shoving the syringe into the side of her neck. He started to push the liquid into her when he was suddenly hit over the head with something causing him to drop Karma; she pulled the syringe out and glared at it before throwing it onto the floor. A stinging sensation creeped up her neck and down to her chest making her chest burn,

"Grrr…You brat! This is none of your business kid, now get back to bed and stay there!" Hanson said cursing from the floor as he stood up on shaky legs,

"You've made it my business…now leave her alone or I'll make you regret it." Cuphead said standing protectively in front of Karma, Hanson smirked evilly as he looked behind the kid and watched Karma start to cough violently before turning and walking out of the building.

"Ma'am? A-are you okay?" Cuphead said kneeling down and shakily putting a hand on her shoulder, a searing pain shot through her neck as she nodded wearily. Cuphead looked around and spotted a bottle of water on the nurse's desk and quickly grabbed it before opening it and making her drink it, swallowing hard she held her hand up and took a few deep breaths.

"A-are you okay?" Cuphead looked at her with worry in his eyes, she looked up at him and his eyes widened…her eyes were beautiful like sapphires making him blush. She smiled and nodded, "Yes thank you sir, the pain is gone now…" she paused sizing him up noticing that he was in a medical gown, "Um…You shouldn't be up and walking around. We need to get you back to your room…" She said standing up on shaky legs gripping the edge of the counter to regain her balance. Cuphead stood to his full height and watched as she straightened herself out coming up to his chest, he started to chuckle as she directed him back to his room,

"What's so funny?" Karma said as her tail twitched.

"Nothing…it's just….you're so short! It's adorable…" Cuphead laughed sitting on the hospital bed smiling, she blushed and huffed, "I'm not short! I'm vertically challenged…" she paused, "What's your name kid?" "Cuphead but you can call me Cup." He said winking at her making her blush even more,

"Y-yea o-okay Mr. Cup…anyway…" Karma said looking over her clipboard flipping through until she got to his file, "So…how are you feeling Mr. Cup?"

"Just Cup…and I feel fine…" She watched him closely and noticed that happy smile drop to a saddened frown, she sighed and walked over pulling up a chair and sitting in front of him. He observed her closely as the pair sat in silence, she couched lightly drawing his attention, "Are you sure you're alright Miss?"

"Karma…"

"What?"

"My name is Karma…Doctor Karma…." She said casually, he nodded his head and took this time to size her up, 'She is very attractive…' Cups thought to himself drawing a blush before his eyes drifted to the spot where Hanson had stabbed her with his syringe, the spot had grown a very dark red and puffy… 'Ouch…that looks like it hurts…' Karma noticed he was staring at her neck so she tried to cover it up with the collar of her coat but it didn't work…

"Who was that man that attacked you?" Cups said after another moment of silence, her eyes widened slightly as her gaze was downcast. She sighed,

"That was Hanson Wolf…he's another doctor here…" Karma whispered the last part but Cups could still hear it, "He's been after me since I started working here…You know a new, young, single doctor how could he resist?" She said putting her hands together and mocked innocence for a second making Cups smile a little bit, "But he's a jerk, he mistreats his patients and harasses every girl that's not in a relationship it's a pain…"

"Why don't you report him?" Cups said scooting over on the bed's edge making room for her; she smiled softly and sighed again.

"I've tried but he's got tenure…" He nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes before the light ringing of a phone drew their attention.

"I-I better get that…could be an emergency…" Karma said getting up from her chair and walking into the hallway, Cups sat and just listened. After a few minutes she hung up the phone and walked back to the doorframe, she smiled from the hallway the light behind making her look like an angel.

"I have good news, Cup! You're being discharged when the day shift staff comes in." She smiles at him he smiles a sad smile, "Oh and you're brother will be able to leave as well!" His eyes widened as he stared at her, his eyes glassed over as tears threatened to fall.

"M-my b-brother is here? A-alive?" Cups stuttered clutching the blanket, with a relieved smile on his face.

"Yes but you need to get some sleep first, I'll get you up in a few hours so you both can be discharged…" she giggled sweetly, "Now get some sleep, please…I have work to do." He smiled and chuckled as she turned to leave the room, "I'll be just outside if you need anything." He nodded and laid back and fell into a peaceful slumber.

*Chapter 1 end*


	2. Teamwork

**Ch. Teamwork**

~ With Cuphead ~

Cups slowly awakens from his slumber, he yawns stretching his back as he hears fighting coming from the hallway. 'I don't remember my door being closed…' Cups thought as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, a cute nurse walked into the room and smiled when she saw that Cups was awake.

"Oh good sir you're awake! Please excuse the noise in the hallway one of our doctors is not in a very good mood at the moment…" The chick replied in a sweet voice as she went to check on what was happening in the hallway only to have a clipboard zip passed and clang against the wall,

"Oh d-dear she's angry…um…" The chick stuttered nervously as an annoyed female rabbit nurse stomped in and grabbed Cups by his collar, "YOU! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOUR TRASH HERE AND NOT PICK IT UP!"

"F-Fanny please!" The chick nurse stammered as the rabbit pulled Cups out of his room and threw him into his brother's room.

"M-Mugs? You're alive?!" Cups hugs his brother tightly for a moment before leaning back and started squishing his face, "I'm not talking to you Cups…You just left me here and never came back!" Mugs said mocking anger as he glanced at his happily sobbing brother,

"M-Mugs I-I thought you were dead! I thought I killed you!" Cups said wiping his eyes as he smiled at his brother who after a minute huffed and smiled back. "I'm just so happy to have you back Mugs! I went through the worst days of whole life without you…And the whole time I couldn't forget about you even if I tried." Cups said hugging his brother, "Cuppy please, I'm not use to all this love…" Both boys chuckled happily until they hear something crash against the wall.

"C'mon boys let's get you discharged….this isn't exactly a 'safe' place right now…"Dovil said as sweetly as she could while ignoring all of the yelling in the hallway.

"FIRED?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIRED?! I DID NOTHING WRONG!" Karma yelled at a Black bear as a cheeky looking wolf grinned beside him,

"It is exactly what it sounds like Ms. Fox! You have been fighting with staff, sleeping on the job, neglecting patients, setting the breakroom on fire…"

"One time! And that was a freak accident!" The fox interrupted angrily, as the black bear huffed and slammed the false reports on the counter,

"Just look at these reports Karma!"

"B-but these aren't…." She stares wide eyed at the reports before glaring angrily at the man, "Those are false accusations sir please! Someone is framing me and I know who…" She glared daggers at the smug Dr. Hanson who changed his expression to one of pure innocence when the bear looked at him before returning to smug when he looked back at her,

"Ms. Fox you seriously think Dr. Hanson has anything to do with this?! He is a model of perfection in medicine! None of this trouble started until YOU got here Ms.…I think it's best if you turn in your badge…" Bear said holding his hand out expecting her to hand over her badge. Karma removed her badge and gripped it tightly cutting her palm as a small blue flame licked at the badge burning her image off the center, not noticing that a newly healed Mugman and Cuphead was watching the scene behind the brawny black bear…angrily she threw it to the black bear.

"HERE! I hope you're happy!" Karma shouted turning on her heel and stalking angrily down the hallway as the small blue flame in her hands fully enveloped them.

"Dr. Hanson I am so sorry about this unfortunate misunderstanding…"

"Yes…it's always a shame to lose someone that could have been great…" Hanson said smirking behind the bear's back as both men retreated to the interior of the hospital…

"Oh dear…Poor Karma…" Dovil clucked as she watched the hospital doors swing shut, Fanny rolled her eyes before looking downward.

"She'll be okay, she's a strong girl…we'll have drinks with her after work Dovil, that always cheers her up." Fanny sighed stamping the approval needed for the brothers to leave.

~ With Karma ~

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! WHAT A LOAD OF –!"

"Karma! Hey wait up!" She heard Cups shouting trying to catch up with her, she sighed angrily her hands still dangerously aflame,

"Sorry boys but I'm not in the mood to talk." She said stopping, her back turned toward them…there was silence for a couple minutes before she heard Cups say something surprising.

"I'm sorry Karma, but you need to calm down…just calm down…" then Mugs joined in too, "We're sorry that you lost your job Ms. Fox but being angry is not going to solve anything…please calm down… we don't want you to hurt anyone…we don't want you to hurt yourself…so please…calm down…" She felt a soft hand on her shoulder as she started to tear up, her shoulders shaking.

"I worked…so…hard…to get where I was…I excelled at everything…all I wanted to do was help people…but what's the point when I can't even help myself? I lost my job…I'm probably going to lose my license…but what do they care I'm just….a…trouble making fox that can play with fire…I-I…*sniffle* I now have that damned Ink Illness thanks to that…beast of a doctor…" As she spoke, as more tears started to fall the flames around her hand died down. Cups just watched as Mugs gently rubbed her back letting her cry as much as she needed, "W-what am I going to tell my b-brothers? I-I did this for them…M-Mickey so we could do the show as a family a-and *sniffle* F-Felix…because h-he wanted me to fulfil my d-dreams of being a doctor…now all that's gone out the window…" As she continued to cry she felt someone tall pull her into a loving embrace, surprised she did nothing until Cuphead bent down to her level and smiled wiping her tears away,

"Your brothers will be proud of you for trying…even if you failed they're family," He said this glancing at Mugman who smiled lovingly back, "They'll love you no matter what…succeed or fail…" Cups smiles into those big gorgeous blue eyes making Karma smile and blush,

"T-thanks Cups…" She hiccupped as Cuphead stood up straight and ruffled her hair, "No problem short stuff anyway this is my brother Mugman." Karma became flustered instantly as she realized that Cups called her short, "I'm not short!"

"Whatever you say shorty." Cups said as the two brothers laughed, she rolled her eyes and laughed to a sad smile crossed her face, "Um…thank you boys but I must be getting home…I'll see you around."

"Uh…okay Ms. Karma…" with a sad wave the fox turned and walked toward home.

'What am I going to do now?' Yawning as she walked down Main Street she stretched and looked around at the morning hustle and bustle of their busy little town.

~ With Bendy and Boris ~

"Uh hello? E-excuse me we would like to book a room?" Boris says looking around the hotel lobby for the caretaker, Bendy sighs when he see a tiny cat poke her head out from behind the counter.

'You poor thing.' Bendy thinks as he watches the poor woman reach above her to grab keys for their room,

"Thanks Miss this room is perfect! Come on Bendy!" Boris says opening the door to their room only to see the little demon giving the little kitty a short pep talk.

"And never forget! Always keep looking up! Think of all the tiny places you can fit into! You'll always be at the front row for concerts and you'll always get a good laugh when you see all the disappointed looks of people who think you're a kid!" As Bendy held the poor woman above him Boris sighed and shook his head,

"Bendy put her down, I think you're scaring her." He chuckles walking into the room only to realize that Bendy isn't with him, 'Oh no…'

"Um excuse me miss but is my brother still with you?" Boris asked hopefully but the little cat just shook her head, "No I'm sorry he said he would be back soon though."

"Oh okay…thank you." Boris said walking out of the hotel lobby and out into the evening streets, looking both ways he started to call out for him.

Elsewhere Bendy walked into an alleyway next to the hotel as black liquid leaked from his mouth, "There is no need for me to make my brother suffer with me…and there's no need to alert the neighbors" he coughs for a moment wheezing as he inhales a shaky breath, "I just have to suck it up and fight it on my own…" suddenly he collapsed onto his knees crying black tears and sniffling.

"He's just a kid! He shouldn't have to go through this with me…I shouldn't need to put him through all this worry every single day!" Gripping his stomach as tears poured down from his face, "I-it hurts soo…but I….n-no I can't…I thought I wa-as strong b-but I can't….I need you…B-Boris…I'm so sorry…. BORIS!" Bendy cries out not realizing that someone else heard his cry.

"Bendy where are you? BENDY!" Boris shouts as he searches left and right, "Where have you gone?" The sad little woofy sighs and turns to look another way when he is suddenly shoved to the wall by a scraggly raccoon.

Bendy, just around the corner, feels himself get picked up and opening his eyes slightly he looks at his 'savior' only to realize it's not Boris but Cuphead.

"Where is your brother?" Cups asks softly as he stares into the wide eyes of Bendy, "W-what? As if I'm going to tell you.." Cups takes a deep breath and sighs,

"Look I have no intentions of killing you right now, you need each other…that's how I earned your respect right?" Cups smiles as Bendy remembers the words he spoke that night at the hospital before he left, _'' You're not as much of an idiot as I thought…If you love your brother this much then you have my respect…Be strong I'm sure he'd want that for you… ''_ Bendy blushes embarrassed, "Oh crap you heard that?" Cups nods smiling.

"This is so embarrassing…" Cups chuckles a little,

"Now where's your brother so we can be even?"

"Wait so are you good now?! You won't try and kill us anymore?" Bendy said perking up in Cuphead's arms, Cups looks away sadly "Wish I could but…"

"BENDY!"

"BORIS!" Bendy shouts upon hearing his brother's terrified voice, they look around the corner to see a raccoon holding a knife up to Boris's throat.

"Okay give me all ya go kid!"

"I-I'm sorry sir but I don't have anything on me…p-please let me go…" Boris whimpers as the knife is pressed closer to his neck, Cuphead fires up his gun when Bendy suddenly coughs drawing everyone's attention.

"Bendy!" Boris yells taking this chance to escape the robber, when the raccoon notices he's gone and tries to reach out for his shoulder Mugman grasps his hand crushing it in his hand.

"Ow ow ow ow!" The raccoon yelps tearing up as Mugs lets go of his hand causing the thief to run away, glaring after the raccoon Mugman turns to see what all the commotion is about and smiles a little bit upon seeing his brother cradling Bendy before handing him over to his brother.

"B-Bendy are you okay?" Boris asks as Bendy jumps into his arms hugging his neck, 'Did Cuphead really just help us?' He thought for a second before seeing Mugman standing behind Cuphead, "Wait is that..?"

"Hi!" Mugs says smiling brightly as his brother looks away embarrassed.

"U-um…thanks but why?"

"I don't have time for this crap…you're brother needs rest." Cups turns away flustered as his brother runs to catch up with him, "That was awfully nice of you Cups…" Mugs said playfully shoving his brother making the flustered Cups's blush grow,

"Yea whatever…I just so happen to be there at the right time…no biggy…" Cups answered shrugging it off like it was an everyday thing, Mugs notices the blush on his brother's face and chuckles.

"Cuphead? More like tomato head!"

"Hey shut up!" Cups said playfully giving his brother a punch on the arm pausing to look around for the hotel they were supposed to be staying at.

Elsewhere Boris cradles Bendy as he walks into the hotel lobby and passed the hotel clerk and back into their room, "Oh my gosh is he okay?! IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?!" The little cat yelps as she watches Boris place Bendy on one of the beds and giggles,

"No that's okay…he's fine now just needs some rest is all…"

'Those two confuse me…I mean I'm happy Cuphead was there to help and that Mugman is alright but…I just don't know how to feel about those two…' Boris thinks to himself as the little hostess tries to calm herself down.

"A-are you sure he's alright?" The little kitty squeaks making Boris smile and nod, "Well okay then…just take care of your little brother okay?" Boris bursts out laughing as Bendy bolts awake.

"WHAT? LITTLE BROTHER!" Bendy shouts jump scaring the poor little kitty.

~ With Mickey and Oswald ~

In a darkened room Mickey sat sadly as he realized that he can't help everyone, Oswald walks in and sits down by his brother and just listens to him vent.

"D-Donald was right…I can't help everyone…I mean the kid needs help but he and his brother have each other and I have a job and a family to take care of…pretty pathetic right?" Mickey asks sniffling not expecting an answer when Oswald smiles sadly, "You're too good for this world Mick." With widened eyes Mickey turns to look at his brother as he continues to speak for the first time since his wife's death,

"That's why I've always been jealous of you bro, you try to help everyone you can even if it means putting yourself at risk as well…" Oswald smiles and chuckles, "Sorry I know my voice sounds funny I have talked in a while…" Mickey's widened eyes fill up with tears as he embraces Oswald in a surprise hug making him smile,

"OZZY! YOU'RE TALKING!"

"Yes…but Mickey why are you still crying?" Oswald asks trying to breathe, Mickey releases him and smiles wiping his eyes.

"Y-You spoke Ozzy…the-these are happy tears…" Mickey spoke hiccupping slightly as Oswald pulled the mouse in for a warm embrace, "I love you bro."

"I love you too Ozzy."

~ With Cuphead and Mugman ~

"So where are we staying bro? It's getting pretty late." Mugman asked as Cups looked around before spotting the same hotel they were just at sitting next to a cozy little house.

"There! That hotel, they don't look very busy. We should be able to find a room no problem!" Cups said smiling as he started to walk towards the little hotel.

As the brothers get closer to the hotel they hear a soft tune coming from the house beside it, "Hmm that sounds nice…" Cups said as they walked into the hotel doors.

"Yea I hope we get a room by them! I could listen to that all night long!" Mugman squealed in delight when a small kitty appeared behind the counter,

"Can I help you gentlemen?" She asked pushing her tiny glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Oh yes we would like a room please, one with two beds." Cuphead said chuckling as he watched his brother out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh sure thing, here you are boys! Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you ma'am!" Cuphead said taking the keys from her fluffy paws and heading toward their room, Cuphead opened the door and smiled at the beautiful room and flopped down on the bed.

"Ah, a nice comfortable bed to sleep on for once." Cups said shoving his face into a pillow,

"Yea and look! We have a balcony by that little house!" Mugman exclaimed rushing toward the window, he frowned though when he noticed the lights were out.

"Aw don't fret Mugs, it's probably just late. You should probably get some sleep Mugs, I'll be in shortly just want to sit outside for a bit."

"Okay Cups…um hey Cups?" Mugman asks as he climbs into bed.

"Hm?"

"Since we helped those guys out…c-can we be friends? I really like Boris and he seems like a cool kid! His brother too!" He pauses. "Cups?" He sighs.

"If we don't get rid of them we'll be the ones who end up dead remember?"

"Well, the boss doesn't want them to fins the parts to that machine…so why don't we just find the parts first so we don't have to kill them?" Cups thinks about it for a minute.

"We don't have a map though…"

"Oh…right…" Cups sighs watching as Mugs' happy smile fades into a frown.

Cups walks outside and closes the door behind him as he takes in the fresh air, he looks around at all of the scenery and see the shocked face of Bendy standing on the balcony next to his hanging clothes on the line…

"Man you guys are everywhere…" Cups says chuckling quietly.

"I can say the same thing about you." Bendy said trying to ignore him as he hangs his shirt on the line. Both boys sigh.

"You know…you're awfully calm for seeing me…because you know I could strike…at any….MOMENT!" Cups exclaims with his scariest face before cracking up laughing at the terrified expression on Bendy's face.

"HAHAHA! Oh my gosh dude you're such a wimp!" Bendy takes in a deep breath calming his nerves as Cups makes clucking noises at him laughing, "UGH!" Bendy huffs turning to go back inside as Cups calms down he smiles…

"Hey just one more thing…"

"UGH! What?" Bendy sighs annoyed before looking into the calm smiling face of Cups.

"Thank you."

"W-what?" Bendy said taken aback by this sudden side of Cups, Cuphead leaned against the railing sighing as he brushed his hair out of his eyes never taking them off of the little devil.

"Yea I don't normally say that but…you know how much I cherish my brother…So you kind of reunited us in a way. So thanks…" Cups said smiling, Bendy smiled as well folding his arms across his chest.

"You're love for your brother is the only thing I liked about you anyway so…you're welcome."

"Whelp see you later!" Cups said smiling and walking back inside waving good night to Bendy as the little demon did the same.

"Hey Mugs you'll never guess who's staying in the room next to us?" Cups said climbing into bed, Mugs just smiled sleepily, "Really? That's great! Maybe we can…be…friends….zzzzzzz."

Cups laughed before drifting off to sleep as well.

~ With Bendy and Boris ~

"Hey Boris you'll never guess who is staying in the room next to us…" Bendy said chuckling slightly as he changed into some nicer clothes, Boris looked worried.

"R-really?" Boris said worriedly before noticing the clothes that Bendy had changed into, "Those are some awfully nice clothes for just going to bed…" The little demon laughed and looked at his brother straightening out his vest.

"These aren't for bed Boris, these are for picking up chicks!" Bendy answered smiling devilishly, Boris chuckled.

"Well I hope you get one this time." He waved sleepily as Bendy walked out closing the door behind him.

~ With Karma, Dovil and Fanny ~

"So when is this 'boyfriend' of yours supposed to show up?" Fanny said sipping on her drink from the bar, her long silky dress bunching over her shiny heels.

"Yea Dovil, who is this guy? It's not another weirdo is it?" Karma said stirring her drink softly tugging on her shirt to cover her stomach, Fanny rolled her eyes.

"Yea Dovil it's not that cup-kid is it?" Dovil blushed her peachy cheeks becoming a dark red in the fluorescent light of the bar.

"N-no he was too immature for me…I'm not into that type of man. No Pupsy should be here shortly." Dovil said sweetly as a little demon walked into the bar dressed sharply he looked at the table of ladies watching as one left the table as the other two chatted away.

"One Martini please and make it snappy." Bendy asked the bar tender as he scanned the bar for lovely ladies,

'Oh hey there's that cute nurse and whoa! Look at that hottie with her! Can't believe I didn't make a move when I first met her! Well time to fix that…" Bendy thinks as he casually walks up to their table.

"Oh hey it's you! Your friends are doing better than ever!"

"Oh I know! Thank you Miss…?" Bendy asked leading the question making Dovil blush,

"Dovil Featherton…Pleasure to meet you Mister?"

"Pleasure is all mine, oh my name is Bendy." Bendy said kissing Dovil's hand then doing the same to Fanny.

"Oh and this is my friend Francine Cottontail, but we just call her Fanny!" Dovil said introducing Fanny.

"Miss…"

"Charmed." Fanny said a little annoyed,

"We're just waiting for my boyfriend to arrive! Oh…where did Karma go?" Dovil said looking around not noticing Bendy's defeated expression.

"Yes where did our darling little fox get to?" Fanny said looking around for a second before spotting her at the bar, "Ah there she is! Figures she would be at the bar already." Bendy redirects his gaze to the bar and sees that his drink is ready and there is a…

"Whoa! Who's that?" Bendy asks no one as hearts envelope his eyes as he stares at Karma talking to the Bartender, Fanny rolls her eyes and huffs.

"That's our friend Karma Fox, she not into drinking but she loves hanging around the bar." Bendy nods and smiles, "Well…have a good night ladies."

"Yea whatever…" Fanny sighs watching as the little demon approached the bar and took a seat right next to her friend.

"Ah there you are sir, your drink is ready." The bartender smiles as Bendy takes a seat at the bar, "Thanks!" He takes a sip of his martini and casually glances at the beautiful fox sitting beside him staring into her drink. 'Now's my chance!'

"Hey there foxy lady, what's your name? Mine's Bendy." Bendy said winking at her, Karma smiles a little and giggles looking up from her drink, "Well aren't you the devilishly handsome one? Karma…Karma Fox."

'Wow those eyes are beautiful! Whoa is she flirting back?' He smiled his most devilish smile and kissed her hand making her blush.

"Such a lovely name for a lovely lady."

"Well aren't you a charmer? I see you met my friends already." Karma said smiling and looking over at her table where Pups was flirting with Dovil and Fanny looked like she was about to smack her, turning back she laughing to herself.

"Yea but they're already taken…" He sighed and chugged the rest of his drink down before ordering another, "Well…you know…I-I'm not taken…." Karma whispered making Bendy blush.

"You're single?" Bendy's devilish smile returned making the fox blush and stare at her drink, she nodded.

"Pfft…that's impossible. How can a gorgeous woman like you be single? There's got to be like a million guys trying to get your number." Bendy said taking a big drink of another Martini thinking that she's just teasing him, "I bet your boyfriend will show up any minute and try to shove me out."

"I'm serious Bendy…too be honest I've never really had a relationship before at least not a family one…" Bendy's accusing stare softened as he watched her stir her drink sadly,

"Why not?"

"What?"

"Why haven't you dated before?" Bendy asked a bit curious as to why such a sweet lady like Karma had always been single, she laughed lightly and shrugged.

"Between working at the hospital and being a performer in Mickey's show there was never really time a relationship…but now that I'm…not at the hospital anymore I have a bit more time to start dating. That and I'm very picky when it comes to men."

"That's true short stuff…Hey Karms Dovil and I are going home for the night, you need a ride?" Fanny said as she waited impatiently for Dovil and Puphead's little flirt fest to end.

"Don't call me short!" Bendy huffed finishing off his drink, Karma stood up from her seat and gave Fanny a hug, "No thanks Fanny, I think I'll walk tonight…I don't live far."

"Okay darling, text me when you get home so I know you made it safely." Fanny said waving goodbye and dragging Dovil out the door.

"Why you walking home? It's dangerous for a pretty lady to go alone." Bendy said slurring his words a little bit.

"Oh goodness Bendy you're drunk." Karma said laughing as he tried to get off the stool almost falling, Karma held him up and said, "Come on sweet pea, time to go home."

"I don't home…I'm at kitty hotel with my bwother." Bendy said as he started to walk out of the bar with Karma following close behind,

"I know where that is, we can walk together. I live next door!" Karma said smiling as she grabbed Bendy's hand to keep him from diverting in a different direction.

A few minutes pass and they make it to the hotel and Bendy, now slightly more sober, thanks her and walks into his room closing the door behind him as Karma giggles and walks next door and goes inside.

~ Next Morning (6:30 am) with Boris and Mugman ~

"Yawn…Hmm what time is it?" Mugman awakes sleepily asking more himself than his brother, "6:30? Wonder what they have for breakfast…" Mugs quietly gets out of bed and looks for his shirt and scarf, after getting dressed, the rest of the way, he quietly opens and closes their door and heads down toward the sweet smell of pancakes and bacon.

'Yum! Cups loves bacon!' Mugman thought to himself happily rounding the corner only to bump into Boris as he stood sleepily in line to try to get breakfast for him and Bendy.

"Good Morning Boris!" Mugs says jolting the sleepy wolf fully awake, Boris turns slowly and swallows hard when he sees Mugman standing behind him.

'Oh crap oh crap oh crap! What does he want?!' Boris thinks trying his best to stay calm, taking a deep breath he fakes a smile and greets the young Mug.

"G-good morning Mugs…h-how are you?"

"GREAT! Wanna be friends?!" Mugs says getting uncomfortably close to Boris who smiles nervously and backs off, "U-um…."

'I don't know what to think about these guys…but he's so…sad?' Boris thinks as he quickly sees Mugman's happy smile disappear, "That's okay…no one besides my brother wants to be my friend anyway…"

"H-hey I d-didn't say that it's just…I thought you didn't want to since…you know…you and your bro are always trying to kill us and stuff…b-but…I'll think about it okay?" Boris said smiling cautiously as Mugman started to beam,

'Oh no what have I done?' The wolf thought to himself as he went through line getting food for him and Bendy with an overly excited Mugman beside him getting breakfast as well.

"Okay! Well I'll see you later!" Mugman said rushing off to his room almost dropping food on the floor with Boris following carefully behind him.

'I can't believe it! I made a friend! A REAL friend! I can't wait to tell Cuppy!' Mugs thinks happily to himself as he realizes that he needs to calm his butt down before he loses their breakfast, coming up behind him Boris steadily walks slowly as he tries to balance the food on his tray.

Mugs carefully places their tray of food onto his head as he unlocks and cracks the door before gently taking the food off of his head, Boris comes up just as Mug enters his room and carefully balances his tray on one hand while unlocking the door with the other and entering his room to see a sleepily awake Bendy.

~With Cups and Mugs ~

Mugs quietly places the tray of piping hot food on the desk as he turns to see a very sleepy and very hungry Cuphead get out of bed, "Aww Cuppy your hair is so fluffy!" Mugs wastes no time in giving his brother a friendly hug and fluffs his brother's hair making Cups smile.

"Hey stop that Mugs, I'm not fully awake yet!" Cups says playfully shoving his brother off the bed so he could get dressed. "Hey Cuppy I made a friend!"

"Really? That's great Mugs! Who is it?" Cups said sticking a piece of bacon into his mouth,

"Well he said he'd think about it but still. O-oh it's Boris!" Mugs said excitedly making his brother choke down the bacon he was eating.

"Oh Cuppy! Are you alright?! Here I brought some Orange juice." Mugs said running over to grab one of the two cups and handing it to his brother.

"Yea I-I'm okay Mugs, but Boris…really?" Cups said giving his brother a skeptical look, Mugs nodded excitedly.

"Yea! Isn't that Great?!" Mugs said taking a bite of a fluffy pancake.

"Mhm…but you know you have me Mugs, you don't need anyone else." Cups said a little flustered, Mugs squealed at the cuteness and nuzzled his brother,

"Awww! Is my bwother jealous?" Cups laughed and sat up and patted his brother on his, "You're such a child Mugs."

"Well yea I'm only 14 Cuppy…" Mugs pauses as stars suddenly appear in his eyes as a soft melody floated up to their room from the cracked balcony door. Cups stopped laughing and listened.

~ With Boris and Bendy ~

Boris comes in the room with piping hot breakfast to a very tired, very sober Bendy. "Good morning Bendy, I brought us some breakfast!" Boris says smiling as he set the piping hot tray down on the little table against the wall, Bendy's tired eyes open wide as he smells the mouth-watering aroma coming from the tray.

"Is that Bacon?" Boris laughs as he watches his brother nearly float off the floor from the bed to the table,

"Thanks for getting the grub bro!" Bendy says showing a fist full of bacon into his mouth only to realize that it's still really hot.

"There's milk on the tray Bendy." Boris says trying to hold in laughter only to fail miserably as he takes a bite of pancake and nearly chokes.

"S-so…um…I made a new friend this morning…I think…." Boris thinks for a moment as Bendy swallows hard before taking a smaller bite,

"That's great Boris, who is it?" Bendy asks swallowing his bite and taking a sip of milk,

"M-Mugman…" Boris says hesitantly.

"What?!" Bendy exclaimed spitting out his drink and turning toward his little brother, "Are you nuts?! They're trying to kill us Boris….wait…why would he want to be friends? That's what he has his brother for…" he thinks for a minute, "I-I don't know how to feel about this Boris…they're probably up to something."

"You think that means that Cuphead will want to be friends too? S-should we trust them?" Boris asked with a face full of conflicting emotions as he waited for his brother's answer.

Feeling uncomfortable Boris takes another bite of his pancake before hearing a sweet melody drift into their room from the little house next door,

"Well…I-I don't know…he did save me, kind of, and in a way we saved his relationship with his brother so…I don't know Boris…we will just have to see how things work out. Just be cautious is all I'm saying, we don't know what to expect…from…those…two? Boris?" Bendy asked looking up at his brother who is swaying back and forth to the soft melody, the little devil pauses for a moment and just listens until the tune ends not long after. He sighs.

"Boris just be careful." Bendy said eating the rest of his breakfast as Boris starts on his, he nods and woofs down his breakfast as Bendy finishes getting ready.

A few minutes later Boris opens the door only to be glomped by Mugman "Good morning Boris!" the confused wolf just smiles awkwardly and gives him a light hug back, 'Oh yea…I have a friend…' Boris thinks as Mugman gets off of him and smiles brightly. Bendy closes his eyes and turns to leave when his eyes are suddenly covered by a pair of gloved hands.

"Guess who…"

"C-Cuphead?" Bendy ask praying inwardly that it wasn't him, his eyes get uncovered and the little devil stands face to face with a calmly smiling Cuphead.

"Correct!" Cuphead says chuckling slightly, Cups opens his eyes and realizes that he freaked out Bendy and becomes saddened and goes to leave the room when Bendy grabs his shoulder and pulls him down onto the bed.

"Okay sit your butt down and let's be real for a second…I get that we saved each other's butts and all but how did this all start anyway?" Bendy said giving Cups a stern look before glancing up at Boris and seeing a very saddened Mugman.

"W-we can't tell you…but what we can tell you is that we're being forced to…" Cups said looking down at his hands with a genuinely sad look on his face, "We don't have a choice…if we didn't come after you then we'd be the ones that'll wind up dead…" He paused and thought for a moment, "I…w-we don't want these powers…we never did…especially when…I-I…."

"No no no…please d-don't cry! I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you remember that…" Bendy said getting defensive as Cups' voice began to break and Mugs patted his brother on back only to be grabbed around the waist and held in a very awkward hug with his brother.

"Okay…I guess we're just confused…why you would want to be friends is all…you've never tried this before…" Boris said speaking carefully as Mugman patted his brother's head to make him let go, Cups sighed and looked up at his brother.

"Mugs wants to have some friends besides just me…so….yea…plus we don't really _know_ anyone else in town." Mugs smiled brightly and waved when Bendy looked at him, Bendy stood up with Cups close behind and sighed nodding his head.

"I guess that makes sense…in kind of a weird way…"

A few minutes later the boys left their room and walked out of the lobby of the hotel only to spot…

"M-Mr. Felix?!" Bendy exclaimed confused causing the cat to turn around,

"Ah. Bendy! Hello again boys! Oh? And it looks like you have some new friends with you." Felix said smiling and waving hello.

"O-oh...yes we do!" Boris says completely forgetting about the Cup brothers as Bendy just stood there star stuck that Felix remembered his name.

"So...uh...what are you doing here Mr. Felix?"

"Hm? Oh! I'm just waiting for my cousin." He smiles, "Here she comes now! KARMA!" Felix shouts waving to a familiar foxy lady. Bendy looks past him to see Karma walking up, "Hi Felix!" She smiles only to realize that there was a small group standing behind him.

"Hello Ms. Karma nice to see you again." Cups said blushing giving a small wave, she smiles sweetly making him blush even more.

"Oh Mugs! I'm so happy to see you're feeling better kiddo!" Karma said winking at him.

"T-thanks M-Ms Karma." Looking around the rest of the group she sees Bendy,

"Oh there's my little handsome devil!" She kneels down and gives him a quick peck on the forehead, "Hi Bendy!"

"Whoa bro you actually got a girl last night?" Boris chuckled watching as his brother's tail formed a heart, as Cups became flustered and cleared his throat loudly.

"Huh? Oh hi Cuppy!" Karma says noticing the flustered cup, she smiles and walks up to him giving him a tight hug,

"Awwww...someone's getting jealous! That's adorable Cuppy!" Karma said taking a step back and smiling sweetly before giving Bendy a hug too making the little devil melt in her embrace.

"H-hi K-Karma..." Bendy says dreamily making Felix laugh.

"Karma as cute as it is to see you teasing these kids; we should probably get you to practice." Felix lightly grabbed her shoulder and turned her in the direction of practice.

"AAWWW! But Bends is so cute!" Karma whines pouting as she let go of Bendy,

"Hehe Come on Karma, they can come by later." Felix said chuckling slightly as Bendy stood there blushing as she spots his adorable brother making her eyes light up.

"And who's this adorable little marshmallow?" Karma exclaims finally noticing Boris, she gives him a hug making him blush before Felix pushed her toward practice.

"Karma they can come by later, we need to GO!"

"Aww! Bye guys!" Karma called over her shoulder blowing a kiss to Cup and Bendy.

"Wow...that was...amazing..." Bendy sighs happily as his brother helped him to stand up straight, "Bendy are you two dating?" Boris asked raising an eyebrow making his brother blush again.

"You're DATING?!" Cuphead exclaimed to Bendy who took this as an opportunity to mess with the cup.

"Maybe we are...who's to say? Why...? You jealous?" Bendy said smiling devilishly making Cups blush,

"N-no! I just thought she might like someone a little taller." Cups answered turning away smirking.

*Chap 2 End *


	3. Fire and Ink

**Ch. Fire and Ink**

~ With Bendy and Boris, Cup and Mugs~

"Four sodas and burgers please."

"Sure thing!" The waitress said happily jotting down their orders before walking back towards the kitchen,

"See I'm treating you to lunch like a _cool_ friend." Cups said smiling at Bendy making him roll his eyes as Boris and Mugs just sat quietly looking around at all of the cool memorabilia in the restaurant.

"Wow they sure have a lot of posters of Mickey and his group, hey there's one with Karma and…she's on fire?" Boris said pointing to a nearby poster. Bendy got up and looked at the poster with Cups standing over him and looking as well he smiled, "I didn't know she was a performer…she was a doctor when I first met her."

"A doctor?" Bendy said thoughtfully trying to remember if he saw her at the hospital that night, shrugging the boys sat back down and waited for their food.

"Yea, she was in charge of the floor that night. I heard some ruckus outside of my room and this guy had her pinned to a wall…I think he was another doctor…he jammed a needle of some black liquid into her neck but didn't get it all in because I broke something over his head to leave her alone." Cup said looking down at the table drawing a syringe on the table with his finger remembering the night he saved her…

"With black liquid? You don't think it was….the ink illness d-do you?" Boris asked glancing at a shocked Bendy for a second before redirecting his gaze back to cup. He shrugged,

"I don't know I didn't get a good look at it plus when she took it out she threw it down the hall and never said anything about it."

"She's probably trying to hide it…" Bendy said, 'I know I did when I first found out about mine…'

"Well here are your orders boys! Enjoy!"

"Thanks!" Mugman said as the waitress placed their food on the table, Bendy remained quiet for a few minutes drawing Boris' attention.

"Bendy, is everything okay?" Bendy looked up into the worried eyes of his little brother and the curious ones of the cup brothers, he shook his head.

"Everything's fine I was just thinking...Mr. Felix said we could come by their practice later to see Karma…but he never said where…"

"Oh yea…" Boris and Mugman said in unison as Cup had the look of realization on his face,

"Well we are in a restaurant full of their posters and stuff, why don't we just ask our waitress when she comes back?" Cups suggested taking a big bite of his burger. After a few minutes everyone was done eating and talked as they waited for the waitress to bring them their check.

"So I was thinking Bends…" Cup pauses and looks at his brother as he happily chats away with Boris, "Could we join you on your journey…"

"What?" Bendy asked shocked that he would even ask,

"Face it you would be a lot safer with me and Mugs around." The little devil looked at the Cup questionably for a moment, "You know what we are trying to accomplish right? And you still want to come?"

"Mhm." Cups said smiling with his arms crossed over his chest, Bendy looked down at the tabletop for a minute before glancing back up at him, "I'll talk to Boris about it."

"Great! I knew you wouldn't turn me down!" Cup said excitedly drawing confused looks from Boris and Mugs who shrugged.

"Here's your check gentlemen." The waitress said pulling out a piece of paper and placing it face down on the table, "Just pay whenever you're ready."

"Thanks, uh…you wouldn't happen to know where Mickey's travelling circus practices do you?" Mugs said handing the small paper to his brother, the waitress smiled.

"But of course! It's the same spot they always train when they come through! Tune Stadium on the west side of town!" She said happily as she took their bill and walked away.

"Well you heard her guys, let's go." Cups said standing up and walking toward the door with the others following close behind leaving a tip on the table.

~ At Practice ~

"Okay Oswald for your last trick you use your cape and instead of revealing anything, you'll have it float as you disappear off stage…Karma you'll set the material on fire and start your routine from there once Ozzy is safely behind you. Ha ha! This is going to be awesome!" Mickey says directing the practice as Oswald does his magic and Karma gets ready to start her part, off in the distance a small group of people could be seen walking toward the practice area.

"Okay Karma once I press play you should do your routine a few times," Mickey said as Karma nodded smiling making her hands engulf in flame as she fired up her batons. Mickey pressed play and she began to dance and twirl making the fire surround her in intricate designs.

"Wow that's pretty neat." Mugman said as they drew closer and saw the foxy fire dancer timing her moves to the beats of the music, the small group smiled and watched in awe as Karma played with fire like she was playing with toys.

"Yea it looks better when the lights are off," Felix said smiling dreamily as he watched his cousin create of pillar of fire around herself before shifting and bringing up the bottom to create several rings above her head.

"I bet, is this all for the show?" Bendy asked excitedly. Felix nodded smiling and was going to answer when he noticed something was off…Karma started to sway a little trying to stay balance as the fire rings crept closer to her ears,

"Karma…? You okay?" Felix shouted drawing everyone's attention to the fox as her rings started to collapse around her as she erupted into a fit of coughing.

"KARMA!" Oswald yelled running toward her only to stop a foot away as a ring of fire surrounded her, as she continued to cough the color in her hair started to change and drain to black making his eyes widen. Mickey and the group stopped at the edge of the fire ring watching as the blue flames turned black before fading out,

"Karma!" Bendy and Cup rushed to her side trying to comfort her as she doubled over in pain, "K-Karma what's going on? Are you okay?!" Mickey exclaimed not noticing his brother's pained expression.

"Step back and give her some room." A new voice echoed from around the arena as a smoke black and soft grey raccoon ran into the area skidding to a stop and kneeling down in front of Karma as Bendy and Cups stepped aside.

"R-Raully?" Karma stuttered through another coughing fit, Raully Ringtail dug around into his side bag for a few seconds before finding a syringe with a blue liquid in it.

"What's that?" Boris asked watching as Raully flicked the tip of the needle before sticking it into her arm, injecting her with the blue liquid. Rubbing the spot he stuck her, Raully watched as his childhood friend stopped coughing and started to breathe normally again.

"It worked…" He sighed in relief as he placed one hand on Karma's forehead making her look up; leaning into his hand she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Thanks Raully…that really helped." The two hugged for a minute before he stood up offering a hand to the tired fox, Mickey, Oswald and Felix all gave Karma a group hug before noticing that her once dark green hair was now a deep black.

"What happened Karma? Are you okay? Why is your hair black? Who's this?" Mickey asked in a fluster as he fired off questions left and right.

"Um…Yes. I don't know and this is my friend Raully, he's a biologist from Bulk Mountain." Karma said answering as many of mickey's questions that she could remember as possible. She ran one hand through her hair stopping at the ends noticing that her green hair had indeed turned black and it didn't look like it was going to change back any time soon.

"Ahem…may I have a word with you Karma? In private?" Raully asked gesturing to a spot a bit farther from where they were standing, swallowing hard she saw the nervousness on everyone's faces as she nodded and followed Raully.

~ With Mickey, Oswald, Felix, Cup, Mug, Bendy and Boris ~

The little group, shaken up by Karma's attack, watched as Karma and her raccoon friend walked away a little ways to talk in private.

"Anyone else wonder who that raccoon guy is?" Bendy asks as Mickey tries to comfort Oswald, Felix shakes his head and shrugs,

"Not really. I mean with the exception of you guys, we've known Raully for years. And he always comes down for our shows so it's not that surprising that he's down here." Oswald whispers as Mickey gave the worried bunny a side-hug.

"What do you think they're talking about over there?" Mugs asks curiously as he watches Raully and Karma talk, Mickey sighs.

"We need to get ready for the show tonight, so I'll go tell her to finish up." Mickey pats Oswald on the shoulder and walks over with the little group watching his every move.

~ With Raully and Karma ~

"Karma…how long ago did you start having these attacks?" Raully said looking through his bad for another vial of blue liquid, she sighs and shrugs.

"Um…a couple days ago I guess…when Hanson attacked me at the hospital I started to cough but it didn't last long…Why? What's wrong?" Karma asked sounding worried, the raccoon sighed and closed up his bag giving her his undivided attention.

"If what we saw a few minutes ago is what I think it is then…*sigh* Karma I don't want you to worry about what happens…" Raully says pausing placing a caring hand on her shoulder, she reaches up and grasps it lightly. "You have a bunch of friends and family to support you and…"

"Just spit it out already! I…have it….don't I?" Karma said looking down at the ground Raully rubs his shoulder and nods, "Yes…you have the Ink Illness….b-but…"

"INK ILLNESS?!" Mickey shouts upon overhearing drawing everyone's shocked attention, Mickey shakes his head trying to understand what he just heard as Oswald falls to his knees and starts to cry. Felix kneels down to comfort him, patting his back and trying to be as supportive as possible. Bendy's shocked face changes to horror as he thinks back to his last attack and how painful it was, Boris tears up and hugs Bendy as Cup and Mugman look at one another solemnly.

"Y-You can't have the ink illness…y-you just can't…h-how did you get it?" Mickey asks falling to his knees, Karma sighs and kneels down hugging the mouse for a minute before pulling away. She looks up at their little circle of friends and then back to Raully, "It's probably better if I explain it to everyone at once so I won't have to repeat myself." She says standing up and pulling Mickey up with her they walk over to join the others. Oswald look up sadly as he watches Karma sit down next to him with tear filled eyes, she pats the ground for everyone who was standing to take a seat as she draws in a shaky breath.

"Okay so…yes I have Ink Illness…but it wasn't naturally or by choice."

"What do you mean 'by choice'?" Felix asks rubbing Oswald's back, she sighs.

"She was attacked by another doctor that gave it to her." Cups answered for her directing all attention to himself, she thought for a second before realization struck,

"That's right Cuppy, I forgot you were there…if it wasn't for you I probably would have had more injected then what I had gotten." Karma said involuntarily rubbing her neck where the needle pierced her skin, "If it wasn't for you I would probably be in worse shape than I am…thank you Cups…" He smiled softly with a hint of a blush as he scratched the back of his head.

"Attacked by another doctor? Who?" Raully asked curiously.

"Who do you think? Hanson did it….he came in drunk that night and angry that I turned him down…again…he attacked me in the hallway by Cuppy's room. I don't know why he had that syringe of that stuff on him or how he got it, but he went after me specifically." Karma said leaning forward placing her hand into her palm.

"Hmm….what was that blue stuff you shot into Karma's shoulder earlier Raully? Is it some type of cure?" Mugman asked pointing to his bag, Raully looked down and saw a vial with the same blue liquid sticking out of his bag.

"Oh this? It's a cleansing agent I developed to try and help patients fight the ink Illness, only Karma's is a special case…" he sighed looking at his friend before digging around in his bag for one of his medical journals. "Whoever gave Hanson that syringe, mutated the ink illness to have a specific impact. Meaning that whoever is injected with it slowly starts to lose their 'color' as it were before turning completely to ink from the inside out…so as you can see from her last attack, Karma's hair has changed to black or has 'lost its color'. With each attack something on her body will change to its monochromatic partner yielding in either a white or a black color change, from then on after everything has changed the attacks with start to make everything…well…melt…until she becomes a puddle of ink…." Raully explained before sitting in silence letting everyone absorb the information…after a few minutes he looked at the solemn group and sighed.

"Does anyone know of anyone who has the natural ink illness?" No one spoke right away, Boris and Bendy looked at one another sadly before Bendy raised his hand, "I do…I have it…" Raully nodded and started to rummage through his bag again before pulling out a small canvas bag full of green pills and tossing them to the young devil.

"These will help you out then, I developed them last year after many years of testing and trial and error those pills will help prevent an attack for up to 24 hours. As long as you take one every morning you should be fine," Bendy nodded catching them, he looked up and peered into the teary eyes of Karma before glancing back at the raccoon.

"What about Karma? You have something to help her right?" Mickey asked wiping tears from his eyes, Raully nodded and pulled out the blue vial.

"Yes this mixture has the same effects as the pill, it's experimental and it has an extra enzyme that should help counter act the illness."

"How did you know that she had a mutated version of the original illness?" Cuphead said narrowing his eyes at the raccoon,

"I called him on our way to practice." Karma said defending Raully, Oswald suddenly hugged Karma and sobbed into her shoulder. She smiled sadly and hugged him back,

"Don't worry we'll get through this…I promise…" Karma said nuzzling his head making him sit up and fix his hair, "Hey shouldn't we be getting ready for the show tonight?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"O-oh yea we have a show in a few hours…but I don't think anyone's up to it now…" Mickey said sighing; Karma looked around at all of her sad friends and quickly grew annoyed.

Standing up suddenly Karma's fists became engulfed in flame shocking everyone, "Alright that's enough! I don't know about you but I'm going to go get ready for our show tonight." She sighed running and hand through her dark hair looking at her black hair in her palm she dropped her hand, "Yes what I have…what _we_ have is sad and upsetting but all we can do is live life one day at a time and that's all anyone can ask for." Karma reached out her hand toward Bendy who took it and stood up, she gently squeezed his hand. They smiled at one another for a minute before letting go to help everyone else up from the ground, she walked stood in front of Oswald who hadn't gotten up yet and offered him her hand.

"Come bro, I know it's difficult to forget but we'll make it through this together…I don't plan on dying anytime soon okay?" She smiled at him, watching as he shifted his eyes to hers. She huffed for a second before thinking of something that always made him happy, "Come on who's my little hunny bun? Huh?" Karma asked squishing Oswald's face making him sigh and smile a little bit as he mumbled an answer,

"What I can't hear you!"

"I am…" Oswald said a little louder so she could hear him, he smiled a little and chuckled. "Can you let go of my face now?"

"Oh I don't know, if you're going to be a pouty bunny I might have to do this for a few more minutes." Karma said smiling and nuzzling her brother before laughing as he swatted her hands away.

"Well you heard the fox! We've got a show to do!" Mickey exclaims wiping the tears from his eyes as he straightens his back and fist bumps the air, as Oswald stands and hugs Karma before walking off with Mickey to go get ready for the show.

"Uh…Karma can I come with up to help set up? I need to tell you how to do the treatment since yours has to be injected." Raully asks taking a step closer to his friend and away from the suspicious cup, she giggles and nods.

"Ms. Karma we're going to go get ready before your show starts…I-if that's okay." Boris says noticing his brother also glaring at the raccoon, "Yea…we'll be back in a little while Karma." Bendy says smiling at her, she smiles back and gives him a big hug and kiss on the head before doing the same to Cup making both boys blush and smile.

Boris and Mugman both laugh before also getting a goodbye hug from the sweet fox, "I'll see you at the show then!" Karma waves as she and Raully run to catch up with Mickey and Oswald just as Donald and Goofy enter the arena and start setting up the ring.

"Hey we're going to grab a coffee, would you like to join us?" Mugman asks as Cups and Bendy make their decent from cloud 9. "Nah, I think we're just going to head back. We'll see you at the show, come on Boris." Bendy says glancing at Karma's retreating back one more time before heading back to the hotel.

On the way back to the hotel, Bendy and Boris walk in silence…after a few long minutes Bendy sighs making Boris's ears perk up from the sudden sound.

"Are you okay Bendy? You're awfully quiet…" The worrisome wolf waited for an answer but none came, Boris sighed causing Bendy to look over at his little brother and frown,

"Is something bothering you Boris?" Boris sighed again nodding as glanced at the little devil.

"Yea, are you okay though? You haven't said a word since we left the arena."

"Yes I'm fine Boris, I was just thinking about what that Raully guy said…" Bendy answered as he recalled what Raully had explained to the group.

 _~"Whoever gave Hanson that syringe, mutated the ink illness to have a specific impact. Meaning that whoever is injected with it slowly starts to lose their 'color' as it were before turning completely to ink from the inside out…so as you can see from her last attack, Karma's hair has changed to black or has 'lost its color'. With each attack something on her body will change to its monochromatic partner yielding in either a white or a black color change, from then on after everything has changed the attacks with start to make everything…well…melt…until she becomes a puddle of ink…." ~_

"O-Okay Bendy…Oh look there's the hotel! We need to hurry and change if we are going to make it to the show on time!" Boris said picking up the pace a little bit. The boys quickly dash past the front desk to their room to change. Bendy smiles putting on the same classy outfit he had on the night before while Boris just puts on nice pants and a dress shirt. Boris to gush a little, his adorable tail wagging as his excitement for the show could barely be contained when they hear a knock on the door. The brothers look at one another before the door opens revealing and equally excited Mugman and a very suave looking Cuphead.

"Come on slow pokes or we're going to miss the show!" Cup says smirking before sizing up Bendy and realizing that he also dressed up for the show.

"You look….nice…Bendy."

"Same to you Cup…" The boys smirk at one another as Mugman and Boris just sigh and shrug.

"Come you two let's get going." Boris said walking out the door.

Fast forward to the show:

"Karma! There you are! Are you still doing ok? Oh! Hello Raully." Mickey says adjusting his hat on top of his head. Raully smiles,

"She is doing better and as we have discussed as long as she follows the instructions I gave her she'll be fine." Raully says ruffling the fox's hair a little, Karma huffs as she swats his hand away and fixes her hair.

"Thank you Raully…" Oswald said feeling a bit more at ease.

"I should be just good for the show, no more issues other than the one earlier, right Raully?" Raully nods as Donald walks up and sighs, "Everything is good to go Mickey."

"Well I better be finding my seat then. See you after the show Karma." He says waving goodbye before disappearing into the crowd.

"Alright show time!" Mickey said excitedly fist pumping the air before getting into position, Karma just smiled and walked with Oswald to their positions.

~ In the audience ~

As Raully leaves to go get a seat he runs into Fanny, her husband Brute and Dr. Hansen. "O-oh excuse me miss! I'm sorry I didn't see…you…there…" Raully says rubbing his head as he locks eyes with the beautiful rabbit. "Just leave her there, she can get up on her own!" Raully hears Brute scoff from behind him.

"Francine cottontail charmed, but everyone just calls me…" "Fanny get your but up and moving!" Brute yells grabbing her and forcefully dragging her, she turns to look back at Raully when brute kicks her to get her moving.

"Come on brute! Get you and that lazy wife of yours up here before we miss anything!" Hanson yells as he and a mysterious man in black and red stand at the top of the stairs. Raully looks up at Fanny sadly watching as she's forced he frowns shaking his head, as he turns to go he catches the glimpse of the figure.

"!" Raully's eyes widen when he realizes Hanson is working for "…Black Hat…" he mutters to himself looking at the dark figure as he grins and disappears into the audience. Raully leaves to go find Felix, as he ventures through the stands he eventually finds their small group sitting in a balcony spot almost center stage.

"Heya Raully, we were wondering when you'd get here." Felix says smiling and waving the distracted raccoon over to their section, Raully nodded still a bit out of it as he looked around to see who they were sitting by. His eyes widen when he sees that Fanny's group wasn't far from them. They locked eyes briefly before Brute moved blocking her view and glaring daggers at the raccoon, he sighed turning back around just as the lights dimmed and Mickey walked out on the floor.

~ The show begins ~

"Welcome to the show ladies and gentlemen! We like to start things off with something to lighten the mood, so first up is Captain Donald and his seal trio!" Mickey yells disappearing off stage as a huge fish tank emerges from the arena floor with Donald sitting on the edge as his seals make a round before each jumping up and making a splash. From the wall of the tank Donald pulls out a basket fish catching the seals' attention as they all rush him to try to get to the basket,

"No! You have to do your tricks first!" Donald yells at the seals who pout but do as they're told as Donald tosses each one of them a beach ball to balance on their nose as Donald pulls out a unicycle and carefully riding it out on the thin wire over the water he pulls out several balls and start to juggle performing a few tricks only to have the seals throw their beach balls at him causing him to fall into the water filling the audience with a fit of laughter.

He swims over to the basket and huffs getting out of the water and snaps his fingers to line up the seals only to notice that one of them is missing. A smaller mischievous seal appears out of nowhere sitting on top of the basket with a large fish in his mouth, Donald glares as he grabs the basket out from under the seal laughing as it falls into the water. With scheming eyes the baby seal watches as Donald gives one fish to each of the bigger seals before setting it down beside him, the little mischief maker takes that as his chance to steal the fish. Jumping out of the water the baby seal aims for the basket knocking it to the floor below as the little one tumbles down on top of it, the crowd chuckles and laughs as they see Goofy come out and run around the tank chasing the little seal. After a few seconds of chasing the seal Goofy slips and falls on the wet floor colliding with the tank making a flustered Donald fall back in the tank. Donald glares and yells as he swims back to edge and tries to get back out when the other seals realize that the fish is now on the floor with Goofy. The three bigger seals look at one another before rushing toward the edge knocking Donald back into the water as the seals use him as a stepping stone to the fish. Goofy hears Donald yelling so he stops and looks up only to have the larger seals land on top of him trying to get to the fish.

Backstage Oswald, Karma and Mickey are laughing hysterically as the audience erupts into a fit of laughter. Back on stage Donald manages to get out of the tank and takes the basket of fish out of the seal's grasp and snaps his feathers getting their attention trying to redirect them back into the tank. While everyone is distracted the baby seal pokes his head out of the basket with a fish in his mouth drawing the seals attention to the fish again instead of Donald. Angrily Donald pulls the small seal out of the basket and glares at it as the baby seal smiles and swallows the fish. Goofy gets up to try shaking the water out of his clothes when he notices that Donald is backing away for some reason. He looks up to see the seals hungry for their meal as he and Donald start to run around the tank again before Donald points up and begins to climb back up to the top of the tank with Goofy not far behind with four disappointed seals sitting beneath them on the floor. Laughing at his victory Donald sticks his tongue out at the annoyed seals who try to climb back into their tank with the little one on the top closest to Goofy who slips taking Donald down with him as they slide down the ladder landing in a heap on the wet floor with the seals sitting on top of them as the basket of fish is left open. With the happy seals now eating their meal the act ends with the baby seals sitting happily on top of the basket once more with a huge fish in his mouth.

As the crowd finished laughing Oswald and Mickey walk out pulling with them half of a very large curtain, the crowd silenced and watched in curiosity and awe as to what would happen next.

"For our next act we have the Magnificent Oswald with me as assistant for the evening." Mickey said pausing a moment as Oswald nodded and with a flick of the wrist the curtain disappeared taking with it the large tank and replacing it with a large box.

In the audience Brute huffs as Fanny chuckles at the show down below, Hanson sighs leaning back in his seat casting occasional glances at the happy raccoon that had forgot about him. Sitting in silence Black Hat calmly watches the show while glancing down every once in a while to spot Cuphead and Mugman sitting with their targets laughing and joking, he narrows his eyes slightly making a mental note to speak to the brothers before the evening is over.

Back on stage Oswald has his back toward the audience as he rummages through his big case pulling out random things that makes Mickey visibly squirm in place. After a few minutes he pulls a table out of the box and tells Mickey to lie down upon it…glancing around Mickey swallows hard smiling as Oswald taps his fingers against the plank waiting for Mickey. The mouse gets up on the table and follows Oswald's instructions as he pulls boards up from off the floor and sets them up around Mickey.

"Just stay calm Mick; I know what I'm doing." Ozzy says laying a board over the rest covering Mickey completely, the rabbit then walks in front towards the crowd and looks up to see his friends and smiles when he spots Raully. Raully notices and shifts uncomfortably under his gaze, raising his hands he forms a rectangle with them and looks through going back and forth between Raully and Mickey. He snaps his fingers and within an instant Raully suddenly appears on stage in a puff of smoke, jumping when he realizes that he is no longer in his seat.

"Raully would you care to help me with this magic trick?" Oswald says smiling as he thrusts his thumb backwards to point at Mickey, the nervous raccoon just nods and says nothing.

"Good! Don't worry I'll get you back to your seat when we're done." Ozzy says clapping his hands once before walking back over to where Mickey was and knocking on the boards,

"Mickey you still okay in there?" A second later Mickey could be heard mumbling, nodding in satisfaction Oswald grabs a large blanket directing Raully to hold the other end they lay the blanket on top of the loose boards. Taking a step back Raully watches as Oswald moves his hand over the box before ripping it off and showing a complete box. Upon opening the box Oswald moves aside as Donald sits up and rubs his head confused, the crowd claps in awe as Donald stands and gets out of the box. Raully smiles as the dazed duck walks passed him; Oswald then takes the box off of the table and sets it upright on the ground pulling the top to make it a bit taller than the raccoon before gesturing that he gets into the box.

Reluctantly Raully complies and enters the box which is shut behind him, Oswald pulls the cape back over the box and with the same gesture as before he snaps his finger and pulls the shroud off revealing a large cage with Mickey sitting in the middle waving nervously to the audience. The audience claps and Oswald bows only to turn the spotlight up to the stands where Raully was comfortably sitting in his seat. Oswald's continued his magic tricks, he cut mickey in half before making him levitate and other such tricks you could envision for a magician's performance.

The lights dim down as a spotlight shines upon Oswald as he closes out his act by making his shroud float in mid-air in front of him before the lights turn off completely and fire envelopes the material, as the material burns completely the orange flames turn blue as Karma emerges surrounded by fire.

"With this last act we hope you enjoy the show, just be careful this one's a little hot to the touch!" Mickey's voice could be heard over the intercom as music started to play Karma began her fire dance. In the audience Felix smiled and leaned a little over the edge unaware of a patron walking behind him accidentally knocking over the edge, Karma's ears perked as Felix cried out for help. As the music came to slow point she stood under where Felix dropped catching him with the bar of her fire staff,

"How nice of you to drop in Felix, care for a dance?" Karma asked gently lowering him down before bowing to him and offering him her hand, Felix chuckled.

"Just like old times huh?" Karma just smiled and led him out to the center of the ring just as the song began to pick up again, she swirled rings of fire around them as they danced being careful not to hit Felix with the fire. The two danced just like when they kids, Karma swirled allowing the black cat to lead their routine as she filled the sky with fire before slowing back down tip toeing around Felix. Drawing a circle of fire around their feet the fox, kicked up the ring making it spin from side to side as they painted the room blue, they twirled around one another creating a tunnel of fire engulf them before fanning out with Felix now holding a fiery baton and mirroring his cousin as the music flowed to their movements. With each slow spot they tip toes around one another holding one hand up palm side before quickly spinning away from one another forcing fire between the two. When the song came to an end the two bowed to one another as Karma shook her hands out plunging the whole room in complete darkness as the crowd cheered for an encore.

The lights turn on with everyone on stage taking a bow and thanking everyone for coming. As Bendy, Boris, Cups and Mugs all get up to leave and meet everyone downstairs, they see Fanny's group get up and leave. Cups and Mugs stops for a moment when they make eye contact with Black Hat causing them to freeze in place.

'What the hell is he doing here?!' Cup mentally yelled to himself as he watched the man in black glare at the brothers before turning away.

Bendy and Boris look around confused,

"Hey are you guys okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Boris asked waving a hand in front of Cuphead who blinks and shakes his head.

"Y-yea we're fine. Um we have to go do something really quick...we'll meet you backstage shortly." Cups said grabbing his brother's wrist and dragging him off in the opposite direction of the stage. Bendy narrows his eyes suspiciously but shrugs it off and walks down to the stage with Boris where they see a fight start between Karma and Fanny's Husband Brute.

~ With Mugs and Cups

Cups and Mugman go to leave and get stopped by black hat who they knew was not pleased.

"What do you think you two are doing?" questioned a very annoyed Black Hat. Mugman begins to shift uncomfortably under the dark man's gaze as speaks softly,

"W-we are...um..." Mugs stammers out quickly forgetting what he was going to say as Cups steps in front of him.

"We're getting close to them to steal the parts to the Ink Machine...we thought this was a better approach than killing them outright..." Cuphead glares waiting for him to start yelling but all he receives is silence as Black Hat thinks about what he just heard.

"Hmm...that is actually a very intelligent plan Cuphead. Maybe you're not as stupid as I first thought..." Cups straightens a little at the compliment but sadly it was short lived.

"Be warned that any acts of disobedience because of this and your punishment will be less than pleasant." Black Hat said menacingly making Mugs hide behind his brother as they both nodded fearfully. "I will be watching you boys so I do expect updates." Black hat turns and looks down at the stage to see a happy fox getting hugged by her friends for a job well done before glancing back over his shoulder at Cup who starts blushing a little before changing to a look of pure horror, "You will do your job...or you shall watch as your foxy friend dies before your eyes before I take your heads..." Black Hat smirks evilly leaving the boys behind frozen with fear.

At the stage:

"Karma that was amazing!" Mickey exclaims as they walk back stage.

"Great job improvising Felix!" Karma smiles nudging him softly, " Just like old times huh?"

"Yea but with fire." Felix chuckles to himself when a familiar bunny walked up the group with a brooding husband following close behind.

"FANNY!" Karma exclaims giving her a big hug. "I just wanted to come by and say congrats on the show! It was amazing! Especially that dance with Felix you did, very nice." Fanny says winking and giving her a thumbs up."

"Alright you said what you were going to say now lets go." Brute says grabbing Fanny's arm.

"Let her go." Karma says sternly pulling Fanny to her. Brute growls and pulls her harder towards him and says "We are leaving NOW!"

Brute starts to drag her when Raully steps in front of him blocking his path, " .Go. That's not how you treat a lady. " Brute smiles evilly and says "Watch me." Brute turns to slap Fannie the raccoon grabs his hand and says "Thats not how you treat a lady."

Brute rips his hand from Raully and goes to hit him when he ducks and takes a shot at at the large wolf. Brute falls into Hanson who angrily shoves him off, "Get your wife and let's go _he's_ waiting." Hanson pauses and smiles directing his gaze at a very angry fox.

"Long time no see Karma, I see you are looking a little pale this evening." Hanson smirks redirecting her gaze to her fur before glaring at him,

"No thanks to you Hanson." As Brute huffs and goes to grab Fanny again only to be blocked by a wall of fire, "You are not taking her Brute..." He growled taking a step back from the blue flame, glaring at Fanny he scrunches his nose in disgust and turns. "You can keep her, she of no use to me anymore anyway. C'mon Hanson." Brute said stalking away from the group, Hanson turned smirking before following Brute out the door.

"Karma you didn't have to do that..." Fanny said sadly rubbing her arm as she watched her monster of a husband walk away angrily. Karma smiled at her and hugged her tightly, "Nonsense! He doesn't deserve you! Plus you can stay with me until the divorce is final!" Fanny blushed as the fox held her, "Now you don't have to be such as sass either! Well...actually..."

"I like her sass..." Raully said smiling as he tried to hide his blush, Fanny's eyes widened and she took a step closer to the shy raccoon.

"W-what?" She stuttered, Raully, quickly looking down and blushing glanced back up at the curious bunny and says "...I-I l-like your sass..." she blushes and says "T-thank y-you..." she pauses and gives him a quick peck on the cheek turning his grey fur red. "Thank you for s-saving me from my...my...husband..."

"EX-Husband!" Karma exclaims hugging her friend again while giving the raccoon a sly smile and making kissy faces at him making his blush deepen as he tried to hide his face.

"Come on guys let's go home!" Karma exclaimed bringing Fanny into a side hug as she practically dragged her toward the exit.

'Well this night can't get any worse.' Karma thought to herself walking back towards home with Fanny in tow.

*Ch.3 end*


	4. Let the Journey Begin

**Ch. Let the Journey Begin.**

~ With Karma ~

It was half past midnight before Karma and Fanny had made it back to her place, the scared rabbit shivered out fear and the cold.

"What if he finds me Karma? Do you know what he'll do to me?" Fanny whispered, her eyes darting back and forth from each alley way and dead end street. The fox sighed as she pulled her friend close trying to comfort her, "Come on I said I'd protect ya so would you just chill already? You're making ME nervous."

Fanny sighs, "y-your r-r-right…I-I just need to AH!"

"WHAT!?"Karma exclaims before looking around and spies a little stray kitty walk out from an ally after jumping off a trash can.

"Fanny it was just a stray little ally cat. You're ok. Look we are almost to the house, and there's the hotel the guys are staying at. You need to calm down, you're in good hands okay?" Karma sighs reassuringly as a dark figure suddenly walks out in front of them making Fanny cry.

"Whoa there hot stuff it's just me…hehe sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Raully said stepping to the light making both girls sigh in relief.

"Raully! What are you doing out this late?" Karma smiles sleepily.

"Oh…uh...What time is it? I was just taking a walk before heading back up to my place in the mountains." He answers sheepishly rubbing his arm.

"Dude it's after midnight….you should stay with us tonight it's too late for you to head back up there. " Karma yawns pointing a thumb toward her house, he smiles and nods before joining the two girls. He glanced at Fanny who looked white as a sheet, "Fanny are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I was…I thought….*sniff sniff*" Fanny mumbles something before hugging her friend, Karma smiled sadly rubbing her back trying to get her to calm down.

"She thought you were Brute. And I was just starting to get her to calm down…" Karma sighs deeply while shooting a look at the scrawny raccoon.

"Oh my apologies Ms. Fanny." Raully says kissing her hand before pulling her in for a hug. "Don't worry your little fluffy head…We'll protect you from any harm. Now stop that crying…"Raully says playfully as he goes to cup her face she prepares for pain but instead receives comfort. He smiled softly at hand placing his hand on her cheek wiping away a tear, feeling comforted Fanny leans into his hand blushing slightly.

"Don't worry Fanny…I won't let anything happen to you…"

~ With Bendy and Boris ~

Bendy was lying on his bed just thinking about the day's events while Boris was passed out cold. Soft snores echoed through the room as Boris slept making Bendy smile softly. Yawning the little devil sat up in bed and watched as his brother slept, remembering the man in black that was at the show that night Bendy thought back to what Cuphead said when they first became friends.

 _~ "I wish I could tell you who is making us do this, but I can't. All I can says is we are being forced to do this and we don't want to…"~_

'He was very sincere when he said that, he just had that defeated look in his eye like they have been doing this for a long time…' Bendy thought to himself for a moment before flashing back to the show earlier that night.

 _~ Cups and Mugs stops for a moment when they make eye contact with Black Hat causing them to freeze in place. "Hey are you guys okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Boris asked waving a hand in front of Cuphead who blinks and shakes his head. "Y-yea we're fine. Um we have to go do something really quick...we'll meet you backstage shortly." Cups said grabbing his brother's wrist and dragging him off in the opposite direction of the stage… ~_

'They looked awfully scared…When they left, they went in a different direction then we did. I wonder if that guy is the one making them do this…' Bendy thought sighing as he glanced at Boris who had a dreamy smile on his face as he slept.

"I need some fresh air…" Bendy whispered to himself as he got up and stretched. Tip-toing toward the balcony door he gently pat his brother on the head a couple times before opening and closing the balcony door as quietly as possible. Turning around he heard a sigh, it was Cuphead…but what was he doing up this late? Cups hadn't even noticed the fact that Bendy was outside or staring at him as he turned to go back inside, 'Oh no, he's going back inside! Hurry Bendy this is your chance!' He thought clearing his throat loud enough to draw Cups' attention.

"Oh hi Bendy, what are you doing up this late?" He asked yawning as he leaned back against the side of the balcony giving the little devil his full attention.

"H-hey…Cups, I should be asking you the same thing...I…uh… Just needed some fresh air…I can't sleep." Bendy said scratching his head nervously.

"O-oh…Yea same here…Just been thinking..." Cuphead sighed stretching his back.

"C-Cups can I ask you something?" Bendy rubbed his arm nervously drawing a confused look from Cuphead.

"Um…Sure thing Bends, what's up?"

"….Um…Today at the show…..when we got up to leave...I –I saw you and Mugs stop when you saw a man wearing black and red…with a tall black hat…um…W-Who was that?" Bendy asked with his head pointed down at the ground before shifting his eyes back up to Cups who had a look of pure horror on his face.

'He saw him?! O-Oh no…then that means…he saw _them_!' Cups thought to himself before shaking it off, 'M-Maybe he won't ask…'

"Hey Cups are you a-alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Bendy asks concerned as the cup looked paler than usual. 'So that is him! That's the one making them do this.'

"U-uh…y-yea I-I'm alright." Cups sighs scratching his head and nodding.

"S-so that man…W-who was he? If you don't mind me asking." Bendy asked watching as Cups tried to calm himself down while glancing at his sleeping brother through the glass door.

"T-that man was….h-he was….." Cups stutters before being cut off by Bendy. "The one that wants you to kill us?"

"Y-yea…" Cups says looking down.

"So how did you two get mixed up with a guy like that?"

Cups looks at him before turning to look out into the night once again. "I-I'm not really at liberty to say…Some other time huh?" Cups smiles sadly before waving good night.

"Well Bends I'm going to sleep…See you in the morning." Cups says closing the door behind him.

"Y-Yea see you tomorrow..." Bendy says turning to go back inside and go to sleep as well.

A few hours later:

Boris and Bendy awoke to the smell of smoke and sirens as their hotel room door slammed open, there standing in the door way a very fearful and upset Mugman.

"M-Mugman what's going on!?" Boris exclaims as he and Bendy both bolt out of bed and meet him in the hallway only to bump into a crowd of people, Mugman grabs their hands and leads them out of the building another way as sirens ring fill the air with their fearful wails.

"I-It's Karma! Her house is on fire!" Mugman exclaims as tears well up in his eyes. "WHAT?!" Bendy and Boris yell as they round a corner and standing in front of them is Karma's house engulfed in flames. The boys just stand there in shock as firefighters run back and forth trying to put out the fire.

"W-Where's Karma? A-and your brother?!" Bendy said nearly scaring the poor kid half to death at his sudden outburst, all he could do was point to the house where they saw Raully and Fanny running out of the house as the door frame collapsed.

"KARMA!" They run towards their friends but they saw no sign of their foxy friend, coughing could be heard not far from them as they saw Cuphead singed and coughing.

"Cup!" Mug shouted as he ran to his brother, "W-where's Karma?" Boris asked shaking with fear as he saw Mickey, Oswald and Felix run to the group just in time for Cup to shake his head and point toward the house. The little group looked on in horror, Bendy balled up his fists tightly and shoved his bag into his brother's hands before rushing toward the house pulling his goggles down over his eyes.

"BENDY!" Boris shouted getting the attention of the rest of their group as he punched through the burning boards and entered the raging inferno.

~Inside the Fire~

It was around in the morning when she smelled it. The burning wood…the suffocating black smoke… 'Oh no…' Karma thought as she tore awake and found herself surrounded by black smoke. Eyes watering she pulled the top of her shirt up over her nose as she carefully navigated her way from the bed to the floor.

"Karma! *cough cough* Where are you?!" She could hear a very frightened Fanny yelling from the first floor, she could hear the strain in her voice as the bunny kept calling out but she heard no sign of Raully….

"U-Up stairs! W-where's Raully?!" She called back as she crawled toward the staircase, "D-Down here! He's unconscious!" Karma coughed again before hearing voices below her, it was Cuphead!

"Karma where are you?!" As she got closer to the stairs she could see him looking around frantically while holding the passed out raccoon in his arms. "Up here! Get them out of here! I'll try and make my way downstairs!" Cuphead glanced up at me suppressing a cough he nodded, "Hurry! This place could collapse at any minute!" Cuphead and Fanny ran out the front door, outside a crowd had gathered as Cup set Raully on the ground before turning to go back inside when his exit was blocked. Back inside Karma had gotten halfway down the stairs when the second level collapsed down to the first floor.

"AAAAHHHH!" Karma screamed out as the steps dropped out from beneath her. Another wall started to collapse pinning her underneath a burning support beam, she tried to summon her blue fire to try and block out the fire around her but she couldn't even summon a spark. Her eyes widened. 'I'm going to die in here!' She thought frantically as she tried with all her might to push the heavy beam off of her but it became too much. She started coughing, the black smoke and flames sank down to the ground level burning everything in sight, at the other side of the house Bendy pushed his way through the fallen debris looking for the fox.

"KARMA! KARMA ANSWER ME!" After a couple minutes of looking he hears coughing to the left of him where he spots Karma pinned and barely conscious.

"KARMA!"

"B-bendy?" She coughs losing consciousness as the heavy beam forced what little air she had out of her lungs. Bendy tries with all his might to try and push the beam off of her but fails…

'No no no no no….I'm not strong enough! It can't end like this I've got to get her out!' Bendy thinks as he tries again to lift the beam when it starts to move he hears someone grunting next to him, 'What?' He turns to his left to see a very tired Cuphead helping him pull the beam off. After a few seconds they get it off of her and they both sigh, "We need to get out of here! The whole place is about to collapse!" Cuphead said picking up Karma bridal style and looking around for a clean exit, Bendy smiles when he spots an opening with only a little bit of fire.

"THERE!" Bendy exclaims pushing Cup toward the exit just as the roof above them starts to collapse.

Back outside the group panics as they see the roof finally come down, "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" They hear a fire fighter shout as they try their best to shield the group closest to the collapsing house.

"KARMA!" Mickey, Oswald and Felix shout in fear for their little fire fox.

"BENDY!" Boris cries collapsing to his knees and sobbing at the loss of his older brother.

"CUPHEAD!" Mugs sobs trying to run toward the fires but gets stopped by a firefighter holding him back, he stops squirming and just stands there in shock.

Wait for it….

That's right nobody died...

"*Cough cough* Ugh...is she okay?" Bendy asks trying to get a better look at the unconscious girl, Cup sighs and smiles reluctantly.

"Yea she'll be okay, she just needs some fresh air and some-"

"BENDY! CUP!" Boris and Mugs shout as they run over to the duo and nearly tackle hug them, Bendy smiles and hugs his little bro as Mugs just stands there smiling at his brother not wanting to hurt Karma anymore than she probably was.

"Oh my gosh Karma! Sweetie are you alright!?" Fanny exclaims from nowhere as she runs up to get a closer look with Raully not far behind. Cups looks down sadly at the still unconscious girl in his arms, "Why don't we give her some space huh?" he smiled sadly,

"She can come stay with me at my house in the mountains...she'll be safe there…oh and you too Ms. Fanny if you don't mine me saying." Raully said walking up to the huddle just as Karma begins to stir.

Karma starts to cough turning the orange on her ears to white as the black tips darken. She opens her eyes slowly to see Cups' smiling face,

"There we go, we were wondering when you'd wake up." He said softly lowering her feet to the ground so she could stand. She keeps a hold of him as she steadies herself only to be knocked down later by Mickey and Oswald.

"Ow..." Karma hisses as both men hug her tight, "L-let go...I-I c-can't..."

"Hey guys give her some space huh?" Bendy said pushing everyone away from Cups and Karma, Karma blushed at Bendy's protectiveness and Cups' gentleness toward her. After everyone backs up Bendy turns and his eyes widen causing Cups and Karma to look at him panicked.

"Karma your ears, t-they're white!" Bendy exclaimed shocked that he hadn't noticed before, Cups looks at one of them and rubs it softly noticing a sticky almost ink-like feel.

"Oh…s-so they are." Karma says glancing at the ear that Cups held in his hand blushing a little, "Um Cups you can let go at any time…" Realizing that everyone was staring at him he quickly let go and blushed, "It's just that…uh…your ears feel weird…like the illness is turning them to ink…" Everyone gasped then turned to see that Raully's face had gone white as well…

"Raully are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Felix asks patting the raccoon on the shoulder to bring him back to reality. Raully shook his head,

"No this is bad…" He paused, "The fire must have aggravated the disease so much that it progressed a little more… but it should just be changing color…the ink effect shouldn't happen until closer to the end…" Raully said taking out his journal and flipping through it until he landed on the page he was looking for. The group was silent as they watched the raccoon,

"Does that mean that she's going to die faster?" Boris asked sadly breaking the silence. Raully sighed.

"It could but if we find a way to slow the process then she should be okay…" He paused looking up from his book and reached up to touch Karma's ear. By this point the fox was a little annoyed and smacked his hand away, drawing a confused and slightly annoyed look from the raccoon.

"I don't like people touching my ears." She said flattening her ears down to her head and crossing her arms, "You didn't have an issue when Cuphead did it." Mugs pointed out making her blush slightly and Bendy glare at Cups who stuck his tongue out smiling, "T-that's different he was just curious…"

"So was I and you smacked my hand away." Raully said closing his journal and returning to it to his bag, "You ladies will be staying with me at my home in the mountains, you will be safe there and Karma we can do a few tests and I can create a new dosage for you that should hopefully prevent any further damage."

"Okay…" Karma said sadly looking at her friends that saved her life.

"A-Are you sure w-we'll be s-safe?" stutters out a very still shaken Fanny.

"Yes you will be safe I promise!" A slightly burnt Raully says confidently while hugging the shaken rabbit.

"B-but…." Mutters Oswald looking worriedly at the fox, she smiles softly and hugs him.

"They will be safe, they will stay with me and you all are welcome to come up and visit as well." Raully said dusting himself off as he readied himself for the long trek back to the mountain.

"B-b-but how long will they stay with you? And you'll let us know if anything happens right?" Cups and Bendy look at each other than at karma with sadness and worry in their eyes.

"You will tell us won't you?" They ask sternly.

"Yes I will inform you if something changes." He sighs and turned toward the ladies, "You two ready to go?" Both girls glance at one another sadly before nodding. Fanny walked up to his side as they waited for Karma to give everyone a farewell hug,

"I'll miss you guys." Karma said with a tear in her eye as she gave a tight hug to each pair of brothers, giving Cup and Bendy a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to leave. Mickey, Oswald and Felix gave her a group hug before they let her go…

"Hey Bendy I just realized something!" Boris said taking the map out and opening it as Felix walked over to the brothers as Mickey took Oswald home, "What?" Bendy questioned softly.

"Our first piece is located somewhere close by Bulk Mountain! Maybe if we hurry we can catch up!" Boris says smiling excitedly only to have his happiness dashed by Mugman,

"But the train for Bulk Mountain just left the station with our friends on it…"

"We'll just catch the next train then!" Felix exclaimed excitedly, pulling out his phone looking up the train schedule for Bulk mountain, "It says here that the next train should be arriving in an hour. So if we hurry and get tickets then we can get on when the train arrives." The black cat smiled closing his phone placing the small device back into his vest pocket.

"Yea!" Boris exclaims making his brother smile as they begin heading toward the train station Bendy takes one look back at the ruined house and sighs shaking his head catching up to the group.

In the shadows of the house where no light can be seen a figure stands smirking before vanishing into the smoke and ash.

*End Ch. 4*


	5. To Grandmother's House We Go

**Ch. To Grandmother's House We Go**

 _Over the river and through the woods,_

 _Oh, how the wind does blow!_

 _It stings the toes and bites the nose,_

 _As over the ground we go…_

It had been hours since they left Toon Town and their friends behind, Fanny and Raully were sleeping soundly snuggled up like a pair of love birds while Karma just stared out the train window. Sighing sadly she glanced to her friends and smiled happy that Fanny finally found someone she could feel safe with. She'd been through a lot…they both have but it was good to be getting away from all the drama and danger…or so she thought.

The sun had long since set over the horizon when they finally pulled into the station, the cool mountain breeze chilled the girls to the bone but not Raully. He lived in the mountains so he was used to the cold weather,

"Chilly?" Raully asks watching Fanny shiver as Karma uses her hands to try to warm up the little bunny, he stifles as laugh as even through gritted teeth Fanny still had that spark of sass.

"Oh yea… I'm fine and Karma and I live like Eskimos…No it's FREEZING up here!" She exclaimed pulling Karma closer to her to get her body heat. Karma and Raully chuckled at her analogy as the fox playfully elbowed him telling him to give Fanny his jacket.

"Give her your jacket dude; you probably have like four in your bag anyway." Karma sighed rubbing the bunny's back; he opened his bag and laughed.

"I have five in here thank you, and here Fanny you can take my jacket. The extra body heat should do you some good." Raully said taking off the thick blue jacket that he had on and gently laid it upon her cold shoulders. She blushed a whispered a quiet "Thank You." as he through Karma the dark green jacket that she left at his house the last time she visited.

"Wow Raully you actually kept this for me? Weird how you always hated me wearing it." She said raising a teasing eyebrow at the confused raccoon.

"I only hated seeing you in it when it was dirty. Seriously! I don't understand how you get so muddy coming up here. There wasn't even any snow last time!"

"There wasn't snow but there was still dirt and it did rain!" she exclaimed smirking at him. He rolled his eyes playfully before thinking back to that day.

"Yea but we were inside the whole time…..wait…" He paused looking at the fox who just smiled blushing a little, he narrowed his eyes. "You went hiking when I took a nap didn't you!?" Raully said getting up in her face.

With a sly smile on her face she looked at him and nodded. "I did." The two glared at one another for a minute before erupting into a fit of laughter making Fanny smile and roll her eyes.

As they began their small hike up to the mountain base the trio joked and laughed helping to ease up the tension from the morning's events. Fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet as they walked beneath a ceiling of dying trees,

"Too bad we missed the changing color of the leaves; it's beautiful in the fall." Karma sighed dreamily as she gently touched a tree and looked up toward the sky. Raully smiled at his daydreaming friend as he gently held on to Fanny's hand helping her up a rough part of the trail.

"Yea too bad they just finished changing for the season, but hey when all the leaves are gone you'll have a clear view of the stars." His smile began to falter as he heard a twig snap nearby, Karma noticed this and stopped walking causing the other two to stop as well.

"I think someone's following us…" Raully said as he listened closely to his surroundings the girls did the same but heard nothing, Karma turned her head to the right and saw a shadow out of sight. She narrowed her eyes.

"Let's keep moving Raully…if we are it'd be better for us if we tried to be as far ahead of them as possible." Karma said starting to move again, her tail twitching with each step she took. He nodded pulling Fanny closer to him as he helped her up around another big dip in the trail. By now the group had switched positions, having Raully lead the way and be on the lookout for anyone in front while Karma held onto Fanny and kept up the rear. As they made their way around the top of a hill the trio was caught off guard as a HUGE tree branch came flying out of nowhere hitting Raully square in the gut making him fall to the ground wheezing.

"Raully?!" Fanny cried out as she rushed forward to help him up.

"W-what the * **wheeze** * where…did ….* **gasp** * that…come fro- !" Raully was cut off when suddenly Fanny was yanked backward by her ears.

"BRUTE!? HANSON!?" Karma exclaimed with wide eyes, when they saw the figures that had been following them. The two large wolves smiled evilly as Brute held Fanny by the ears in front of him as Hanson held a large axe in his hands,

" .Go." Karma growled lighting her hands on fire only to have them doused when Hanson shook his finger at her, "Oh I wouldn't do that sweetheart…you don't want to start a forest fire now do you?" Brute and Hanson laughed as he slammed his axe into a nearby tree.

"I ain't your _sweetheart_ Hanson." Venom dripped off every word as Karma glared daggers at the doctor, as Fanny struggled to get her ears out of her ex-husband's grip. Raully coughed as he tried to steady himself on both of his feet before running up to Brute only to be knocked into a tree but the big guy. Brute laughed seeing Fanny's distraught expression as tears streamed down her face, "S-stop it Brute! L-Leave him alone!" Fanny yelled ignoring the pain in her ears. He just laughed harder.

"That's cute you want me to leave him alone…" Brute said mimicking Fanny's cry making the sassy bunny angry at the mockery. Without thinking she swung her leg around kicking him in the stomach making him loosen his grip on her ears enough to let her go.

"Why you little!" Brute said holding his stomach and growling, Hanson just stood back watching as the big brute (lol) charged toward Fanny only to get set ablaze as Karma stepped in front of her holding her hands out in front of her setting them on fire. Hanson growled in disappointment as Brute stop drop and rolled on the ground trying to put himself out when he got fed up and kicked Brute off the side of the bluffs and into the ice cold river below.

The small group watched as Brute fell off the side of the cliff and into the river below. They stared at Hanson who just glared and huffed saying something about a weak link and looking at the group before turning around to leave. Fanny rushed over to look at Raully's injuries when the shock and everything wore off Fanny she smiled. Raully and Karma looked at one another in confusion

"…..I-I just….stood up to B-Brute…" They stared at her for a moment trying to remember what happened before nodding.

"Why yes you did…We are so proud of you!" Karma says with a big grin making Fanny blush.

"*grunting noises* T-thank you." Raully said smiling at Fanny as she helped him up

"F-For what?"

"For helping us." Karma said walking over to a beat up Raully helping Fanny stabilize him as he tried to get his breathing back to normal. The three just smiled and laughed before continuing their way up to a small beaten up house set against the mountains.

"That's your house?" Fanny asked curious, Raully and Karma chuckled.

"Don't let its size fool you it's bigger on the inside." (No dirty thoughts people) Raully said pushing the door open to reveal a staircase leading underground.

~ With Bendy, Boris, Felix, Cup and Mugs ~

"Ugh! Such a weak link that Brute, I should have gotten rid of him ages ago." Huffed a very irritated Hanson.

Walking up the trail Bendy and the group ran into Hanson.

"YOU!?" Cups exclaimed angrily as he fires up his 'hand gun' and is about to fire when out of nowhere Hanson is hit over the head with a giant tree branch knocking him out. Everyone is silent for a moment when Bendy realizes that his brother is missing, "W-where's Boris?"

"Here I am…" Boris says dropping the large branch on the ground looking as innocent as can be.

"BORIS!" A very proud and confused bendy shouts, "Very nice but why did you hit him? Cuphead could've just shot him." The young teen just blushed rubbing the back of his head thinking of a reason.

"Did I do that?...Well u-um if he would have fired his gun he might have set the forest on fire… and we don't need that." Boris said innocently as he stepped over Hanson's body and walked over to Bendy. Cups and Mugs just stood there a stunned that the little wolf was even capable of such a thing.

"Well, way to go Boris! We didn't know you had that kind of power in you." Felix smiled patting him on the shoulder.

"We should move on ahead before this guy wakes up." Cups said walking cautiously around Hanson's body toward the front of the group by Bendy. After walking up the hill a ways they look around and see a little house in the distance.

"Ah! That must be Raully's place!" Felix says pointing at the little house. "We can go there and see how our friends are doing."

"Yea!" Exclaims a very excited Mugman and Boris.

~With Karma at Raully's House~

They had just arrived at Raully's humble abode right around dawn and it was quite the trek seeing as Raully could hardly move. Carefully they walked down the stairs into Raully's house amazed at how modern the inside looked for being underground.

"Wow I haven't been down here in a long time," Karma whistles looking around as Fanny carefully lets Raully sit down on one of the couches, "It's bigger than last time." The tired bunny flops down on the couch beside the battered raccoon and giggles as Karma smiles walking around the house before stopping to cough drawing Raully's attention.

"Karma are you okay?" Fanny asks worried as she starts to cough harder dropping to her knees wheezing as her face turns white, Raully looks through his bag in alarm.

"IT'S NOT HERE?! Oh no..." Raully exclaims realizing that the blue vial for Karma's fits had been knocked out of his bag when he was attacked by Hanson. His face drains of color as he drops to the floor and rushes toward a nearby room to get another vial as Fanny begins to panic.

"R-Raully what do I do? She won't stop coughing!" Fanny yells frantically as all she can is rub Karma's back as she doubles over in pain. A few minutes go by with Fanny crying before they hear someone come in and see Felix coming down the stairs.

"Just keep her company...OOF!" Raully says as he bumps into something causing a box to fall on top of him.

"Felix help!" She cries as Karma's coughing gets more violent, his eyes widened as he watched the color fade from his cousin, "Bendy where are those pills Raully gave you?!" He shouted up the stairs only to have Bendy's bag thrown down to him.

"B-Bendy's...h-here?" Karma coughed as Felix rummaged through his bag finding the little bag and grabbing two pills and shoving them into Karma's mouth.

"Swallow!" He said rubbing her neck making her swallow the pills. Almost immediately the pain subsided and the coughs become fewer, Karma begins to breath normally again as Felix sighs and Fanny walks into the next room seeing Raully trapped under a mountain of boxes.

"Got it!" Raully yelled raising his hand with the blue vial above all the boxes, Fanny sighed and giggled taking the vial out of his hand and moving a few boxes aside.

"Is she okay?" The raccoon asked worry dripping from every word as he looked at the sleepy bunny, she nodded yawning.

"Yea Felix and her friends from earlier are here and gave her some of Bendy's pills." He sighed in relief.

"That's good."

Sometime later...

Karma had fallen asleep on the couch after her little attack with Fanny on the floor beside her, Felix grabbed a couple pillows adjusting the girls so they were comfortable before joining the rest of the group at the table not far away.

"It's a good thing you guys came." A very battered Raully says walking out of his back room with more pills for bendy and a new serum for Karma. "Karma would have been in bad shape if you hadn't shown up in time."

"What happened to that formula you had for her?" Cup said glancing over at the sleeping fox sadly," And what happened to you?"

"Oh this? I…uh…," Sighing he sadly smiled at the girls, "We encountered a very angry Hanson and Brute after we got off the train…and…we were walking up the trail to my house when out of nowhere I got wacked by a giant tree branch before being slammed into a different tree by Brute as I tried to get him away from Fanny." He sighed gently placing his hand over his bruised ribs and shrugging. "So…Karma and Fanny ended up holding their own against them. Fanny stood up to Brute and actually kicked him, Karma and I were so proud," He chuckles lightly smiling at the sleeping bunny, "Then Karma set him on fire once Fanny was free and Hanson pushed the guy off the cliff…."

Everyone's expressions were of shock as they all turn to look at the sleeping girls before returning to Raully who shrugged.

"H-he just pushed him off? But weren't they working together?" Mugs asked looking worriedly at his brother.

"Don't worry I'll never do that you bro, I wouldn't be able to live without you." Cups said smiling giving him a side hug as Bendy remembered back to what Cups said after he thought he killed his brother.

 _~"My fault or not I still shot him….none of this matters now…it's all over…its either both of us or nothing…"~_ He frowned.

Cups and Bendy just look at one another, remembering what happened before turning to see Raully who was smiling dreamily at Fanny.

"So…Raully, how are things with Fanny going?" Bendy asks with a sly smile on his face. Raully blushed.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about…"he says turning away. Boris and Felix just have the cutest grins on their faces as everyone stares accusingly at Raully.

"Will you guys stop looking at me!? Ugh…you guys can sleep here for a while if you want." Raully says getting up to fetch more pillows and blankets.

"That's nice of you but we really just came to see how Karma was doing," Felix said standing up and stretching, "And to the see how close the piece of the ink machine is."

"Oh? You mean this thing?" Raully said walking into the other room and coming out with what looked like a large ink canister. Bendy and Boris stare in shock as they look down at their map and back up at the piece of machinery in Raully's hand.

"How did you find this?!" Boris exclaims unaware that all of the loud noises woke up a very tired and weary fox.

"Oh I was just hiking in the mountains not far from here one day and saw it stuck in a bunch of rocks. Hehe it was a little hard to see at first since the rocks were the same color. I actually was going to bring it with me when I went to see Karma but I was in such a rush that I must have left it here." Raully explained handing the piece to Bendy who almost dropped it when Karma popped out of nowhere.

"Hey whatcha doin?" Bendy sighed in relief that he didn't break the thing and placed it in his bag, "Raully here just gave us a piece for the ink Machine, so I was just putting it away."

"Ah." She paused leaning on Bendy's head making him blush, "Can I come along?"

"Uh…..sure..." Bendy says looking around at the small group.

"Will you be ok if you go? Bendy where is the next piece?" Raully says taking out a note pad. "Um….let me see…um...it looks like it's by a beach of some kind."

"YAY! A DAY AT THE BEACH!" Yells an excited Boris and Mugs high fiving.

"I guess we could have a day at the beach and still look for the piece…" Bendy said smiling as he rolled up the map, "Cool I'll be joining you then." Fanny yawns getting up from the floor and walking over winking at Raully.

"Oh! I can finally wear my new bikini!" Karma exclaims rummaging through her bag and squealing as she pulls it out, "What do you guys think?" She asks Bendy and Cups as she pulls it out and holds it in front of herself.

Both boys look at one another before thinking of what she would look like, after a few seconds they're faces turn beat red. "N-nice! I b-bet that will look beautiful on you." Cups stutters as Bendy tries to recover from a nose bleed, she smiles and shoves it back in her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. "Whelp, I'm ready to go."

"….Y-yea a beach day….looks like I'll be coming too…" Raully says imaging Fanny in a bikini.

"Wow our party keeps getting bigger and bigger doesn't it?" Cups said smiling.

"Oh! And I can teach you guys how to make the serum and pills for Karma and bendy if you would like." Raully smiles making sure he has his notes and list of the ingredients.

"That would be great, thanks Raully." Felix says stretching and adjusting his adventurer's vest.

"I should have what you need and where you can get it, how to make the mixtures and stuff with what you have with you. " Raully says smiling.

~ Time skip to a little later ~

"Who wants to race to the beach?" Mugs said trying to figure out something fun to do on the way to the next piece. Felix looks back at Karma and Bendy taking up the rear and shake his head, "Sorry Mugs but I don't think Bendy and Karma are up for a race right now."

"Aww…" he pouts as everyone looks back and stops waiting for Bendy and Karma to catch up, "Bendy, Karma do you guys need a break? It's okay if you do…" Felix asks with a sad sigh, Bendy shakes his head and Karma gives a weak thumbs up before collapsing.

"Okay maybe a littttle break…" Karma said sitting up and resting against the rock that she just tripped over with Bendy chuckling weakly next to her.

"But we haven't been walking that long…" Mug said more to himself then anybody, Cups just smiled and patted his shoulder. Felix walked over to Bendy and sat down next to him,

"Bendy you know I can carry you so you don't have to walk so much," Bendy blushed as Karma mocked him.

"Awwww! That's so sweet Felix! I bet Bendy would LOVE to be carried by his favorite author!" Karma gushed making him blush more, "Um…no I'm fine really." Bendy said putting his hands up in defense, Raully laughed as Fanny teased him from his back.

"Aww c'mon now Bendy we don't want the wittle baby getting tired…I bet you'd let Karma carry you." Karma giggled, "If wasn't already so tired I would. Come on Bendy just let him carry you it won't be for very long anyway."

"But what about you?" Bendy asked as Felix helped her up, she blushed and waved her hand.

"Oh no I'm fine now, I can walk hehe…" Karma said as Cuphead walked up to her and sighed. He turned around and pointed to his back, "Come on Karma I'm not going to make you walk." Blushing more she just mumbled something and climbed up nuzzling his back making him blush a little.

"Awwww! Now ain't that adorable! Karmy looks like you have two men fighting over you!" Fanny said as Cup stood up holding her tight smirking at Bendy as Felix picked him up.

'Why that little…he did that on purpose! Trying to get her to like him instead! That jerk…' Bendy thought to himself as Mugs beamed grabbing Boris and putting him on his back.

"PIGGY BACK RACE!" Mugman shouted before running off with Boris with Felix and Raully hot on his trail, Cuphead just chuckled noticing that Karma tightened her grip, "You ready?" He cooed, she nodded meeting his gaze.

"Onward!" Karma exclaimed excitedly as Cuphead started to run, quickly passing the others he stopped at the tree that Mugman marked as the finish line.

'Suck it Bendy.' Cuphead smiled, as Karma fist pumped the air.

"We win!" She exclaimed, giggling at everyone's disappointed faces. Fanny rolled her eyes before snuggling into Raully's fur making his face flare up with blush.

"Oh come on just be together already!" Felix says chuckling at the bunny raccoon couple with bendy smirking over his shoulder. Fanny and Raully blush looking at each other as she hides her face into his shoulder.

"Hey there's the beach!" yelled an excited Mugs with a very dizzy Boris still on his back. The little group walked down to the beach together, Cups looked down as his feet connected with sand smiling.

"Hey Cuppy? C-can you put me down now?" He blushed realizing that he still held Karma firmly, "U-uh y-yea sorry about that sweetheart…" He said letting her down and blushing more as he realized what he had just said.

"What was that Cuppy?" Karma asked as her feet touched down on the soft sand, she looked up at him confused before smiling gently as she put her hand on his cheek before a very excited Fanny dragged her down to the changing rooms.

"Don't let that go to you Cup, she still says I'm her handsome little devil." Bendy says snapping a dazed Cup out of his trance, he glared down at the little devil before smirking as well.

"Yea but she snuggled me on the way here so, suck it Bendy." Cups said chuckling before walking to the water with his brother. Bendy fumed, Felix just chuckled as he let him down.

"You know Bendy if you like my cousin you should tell her before Cup does." Bendy's eyes widened as he looked toward the beach to see Karma and Fanny walking out in their swimsuits with Cup and Mugs meeting them.

"Yea just do it already, come on we need to find that piece before we can relax." Raully said walking into the sand before face planting in the sand, "F-Found it….." the raccoon said shaking his head picking up the piece that he tripped over. Felix and Bendy laughed as Boris helped him up grabbing the piece from the ground.

"Looks like part of a pipe." Boris said looking through it and shrugging before putting it in their backpack with the other one, "Well….BEACH PARTY!" Boris said excitedly running off with Raully following not far behind. Felix just chuckled at their retreating backs before glancing back at a very unnerved Bendy.

"Oh come on Bendy, let's have fun. I'm sure if Karma sees you having fun with everyone she may forget about Cup…." Watching the little devil's face with a blush made him laugh.

"Hey Felix….about your cousin…." The cat stopped laughing as he and Bendy walked onto the beach together, "She told me that she never dated before…um…do you think I'm trying too hard?" Felix sighed watching him with amused eyes.

"She's never had time…and she has dated someone once…" He frowned looking at her dunking Raully and running around before he pulled her down. "It wasn't a great experience….anyway just be yourself and she'll love you." Felix smiled patting him on the head before joining their group near the water.

*end Ch. 5*


	6. Beach Party

**Ch. Beach Party**

As the sun rose high up in the sky and patrons flocked to the beach the little group took time to relax, Cuphead and Mugman chased Bendy and Boris around in the water as the two girls worked on their tans. Felix and Raully kept close watch on the girls, keeping a protective eye out for anything suspicious. After about an hour the boys got bored and joined the rest of their group.

As the group sat on the beach and watched the wave roll in Mugs sighs leaning back onto a pile of sand, Cup smiles at his brother and stands stretching as he looks around to see another foxy lady walking down the beach. Watching the waves instead of where she was going the young woman bumps into Cups causing them both to fall into a pile of sand.

"Oh gosh! I'm s-sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," She pauses blushing as she stared into the vibrantly orange eyes of Cuphead, "Are you alright?"

"Oh…uh…that's not a problem." Cups says dusting himself off before meeting the young girl's bashful gaze, "A-re you okay miss…?"

"Ender." Ender answers shyly, before looking around at her surroundings.

"Well it's nice to meet you Ender…what is a lovely lady like yourself doing out here all alone?" Cups asks with his signature smile making the young wolf blush.

"Huh? O-oh! I was just taking in the scenery and um…" she pauses when her curious eyes spot a very familiar face, "Karma! Felix! What are you guys doing here?!" Ender exclaims excitedly, momentarily forgetting about the flirty Cup.

"Oh my… I'm sorry that was loud." Ender says with a cute grin on her face as Karma rushes up to her and gives her a bear hug. Cup blushes and says "Oh that's ok. How do you know Felix and Karma?"

"I'm a friend of the family. Karma and I are practically sisters!" She exclaims excited to see her old friends again. Bendy sees Cup blushing as he walks over with the lovely lady, he smiles mischievously.

'Yes! That means Karma's all mine.' The little devil thought to himself as Karma introduced Ender to everyone.

"Wow! It's nice to meet everyone!" Ender exclaimed excited about meeting such cool new friends. Hours pass by as the little group played in the ocean waves; Cups slept under the umbrella as his brother buried him beneath the sand. Ender and Mugs chuckled being careful not to wake him up, Boris made sand castles with Felix as Fanny slept on a towel tanning as Bendy and Karma just sat and calmly watched the waves.

"Karma?" Bendy said after a few minutes of silence, drawing the young fox's attention.

"Hmm? Yes Bendy?" Karma answered snuggling up to the little demon making him blush and stutter.

"So...before you s-said you have only dated once…..w-what happened?" Karma sat up in thought making Bendy frown from the sudden loss of warmth.

"Huh? Oh….well it was a bad experience but not to worry he's not around anymore." She smiles innocently, unaware of the sudden attention that was drawn to them.

"What do you mean he's not around anymore?" Cuphead awoke with sleepy eyes as he glanced over at the two talking lovebirds unaware that his brother and new friend had buried him alive.

"He's dead." She says innocently cocking her head, Bendy's smile began to falter as awkward coughs sounded nearby.

"Uh…h-how'd...how did he die...if you don't mind me asking…."

"Felix killed him." She says with a smile looking at a now freaked out Bendy.

"WHAT?! FELIX KILLED HIM!?" Bendy exclaimed now white as a sheet, Karma's sweet smile changed to a worried frown.

'N-no way! But then again...he did kill that monstrous tiger...' He thought trying to calm his nerves as Felix walked up to the two his shadow covering Bendy's tiny frame.

"Y-You killed her ex?"

"That's right!" Felix says with a big grin looking at bendy.

"Bendy is everything alright?" Karma asks as Bendy remained silent, she frowned.

"Hey Bendy, say something buddy." Ender said snapping her fingers in front of him, still nothing so she did the only respectful thing and slapped him.

"YOU KILLED SOMEONE!" Bendy yells coming out of his daze, the cat chuckled. Cup finally sat up rolling his eyes in a playful glare at his brother and Ender before glancing at the frenzied Demon, Boris and Mugs looked at one another shrugging.

"Why yes...yes I did." His sweet smile widened creeping out the group before continuing his explanation. "He was hurting my dear cousin...I couldn't let that continue. " Bendy just stared at Karma who smiled sadly.

"Well if he was hurting you then...I probably would have killed him too." Bendy said casually shrugging and pulling Karma into a hug.

"So...uh...bonfire anyone?" Raully says making everyone jump at his sudden presence.

~ Time Skip to the Bonfire that evening ~

"So….anyone want to go to a bonfire?" Raully asked making his presence known.

"YES!" Exclaimed a very excited Ender and Karma, the guys just chuckled at the girls' excitement as Fanny just giggled and shook her head playfully.

"Let's get going then." Bendy smiles standing up holding out his hand for Karma who blushes as he helped her up. As the last rays of the summer sun dipped down below the horizon and the fiery blaze could be seen in the distance Ember rushed toward the growing bonfire with her new friends following close behind.

~ A couple hours later ~

The sound of dancing and laughter filled the night as Ember, Mugs, Boris and Felix danced with such energy someone could swear that they just drank a boat load of caffeine. Cups laid back on the sand and fell asleep allowing the soothing sounds of the ocean waves consume him as Raully and Fanny cuddled nearby. Bendy and Karma smiled as they watched their friends enjoy themselves unaware of a quickly approaching danger.

"What a lovely night, perfect weather, good friends calming sounds of the ocean waves, fun and….."

"You." Bendy to the end of Karma's sentence making her blush, "And you as well Bendy…" Karma smiled sweetly before looking back out to the sleeping ocean, watching as the moonlight reflected off the water as a slight breeze drifted off the water. She shivered for a moment before finding herself wrapped up in the warm embrace of the little devil. She chuckled slightly making Bendy blush and look away, when the gentle breeze suddenly began to pick up.

"Wow it's getting windy, maybe we should call it a night." Karma says gently shaking Cups awake. Rubbing his sleepy eyes he sat up and stretched as the rest of their little group joined them before a gust of wind pushed them toward the ground.

"We need to get out of here!" Boris exclaimed as the wind became more violent, looking out toward the sea dark clouds formed as a cyclone took shape over the water Ender's eye's grew wide.

"Hurricane! Everyone follow me! I live nearby we can stay at my place until everything dies down!" Ender exclaims grabbing Karma's hand and motioning for everyone to follow her. Bendy and Cups stand and begin to run bringing up the rear of their group when they both stopped for a second and turned toward the storm. Red lightning tore through the clouds confirming Cups' suspicions before the boys turned back around caught up to their group.

As soon as they got off the beach the angry winds died down as the storm faded back under the waves.

"That was weird…" Boris says worriedly glancing back toward the beach as they followed Ender down the street to her humble abode.

"Yep, well the wind can be weird sometimes." Ender giggles taking out her house keys as they approach a very cozy and beautiful seafoam blue beach house. A beautiful white picket fence surrounded the small property as they walked up the sand blasted stone walkway into the two story house; gorgeously large French doors greeted the small group as a couple palm trees gently swayed side to side from the cool evening breeze. On the second floor balcony a sliding glass door opened out onto the terrace where you could see for miles, as Ender opened the deep blue door and entered her home the view was just astonishing. Beautiful hardwood floors greet them as Ender wanders off toward the modern kitchen with chrome appliances and white marble counters. On each wall memories are hung as well as some framed shells that have been collected over the years giving the quaint house a more beach-like appeal. The little group looks on in awe as Ender giggles reemerging from the kitchen with a tray full of snacks as she sets them down on the coffee table and gestures them over to take a seat.

"Wow this couch is sooo fluffy! I don't think I'll be able to get off it!" Mugs exclaims snuggling a couch pillow as he sinks into the soft cushions.

"This place is gorgeous Ms. Ender! Is it just you that lives here?" Felix says with stars in his eyes as he looks out a window and has a perfect view of the ocean tide.

"Hey Ender mind if we change clothes? I wouldn't want to get sand or water on any of your furniture." Karma says giggling as she watches Mugman suddenly stand up from the couch and straightening up the pillows.

"Sure up the stairs and to the right should be a bathroom for you guys to use." Ender says beaming as Karma and Fanny smile and race toward the bathroom. Up the stairs lined with photos of sea glass and shells, Karma grabs ahold of the weathered rope used as a banister against the wall. She smiles allowing Fanny to go up and change first as she admires the newest additions to her foxy friend's home. Rooms were closed off with weathered wooden doors that slide across a steel beam over the door frames as speckled glass knobs dared you to enter, Karma was so taken in by the beauty of the house that she hadn't noticed Cups and Mugs coming up behind her.

"Is she still in there? Man it takes you women forever to change." Cups said smiling at the beaming fox as her eyes were full of wonder.

"Huh? Oh…um…yea…Sorry boys but you'll have to wait your turn." Karma said smiling sweetly and winking at him making Cups blush and Mugs chuckle. Not soon after the door opened and Fanny emerged dressed in street attire, "Sorry I took so long. Her bathroom is soo beautiful that I didn't want to leave." She giggled for a minute before readjusting herself to go back downstairs.

Karma just nodded and entered the bathroom closing the door behind her, much like the front of the house the walls were a soft sea foam blue. Corals lined the bathroom mirror as sandy glass coated the shower walls; a weathered wooden cabinet sat above the toilet with fresh white towels nestled underneath hanging from little hooks in the wall. 'Wow she wasn't kidding it is beautiful in here.' Karma thought to herself chuckling as Cups playfully banged on the door saying that she had been in there for millennia.

~Fast Forward and hour~

After everyone has finished changing clothes and Ender takes the dishes into the kitchen she looks around and sees Cups looking out the window. She walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder and asks what's wrong making him almost jump out of skin.

"Hey Cups is everything okay?"

"!"

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you." She says apologizing as she watches him calm himself down with Bendy snickering in the background; he glares at the young devil before sighing and returning his gaze back to the worried fox.

"You're ok Ender; I was just thinking...What's up?" Cups asks her curiously making her blush a little.

"O-oh nothing…I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He smiles gently and nods, "Thank you Ender but I'm fine." He pats her head softly making her huff as he chuckles walking over to the rest of their little group and plopping down on the soft couch beside his brother who was happily chatting away with Boris and Felix.

"So...Bendy…how close is the next piece of the machine?" Raully asks from his seat on the love-seat with Fanny. "Hmm…let me look…"Bendy says pulling out his map as Boris leans over to look at the lightly glowing map.

"Fairly close, it looks like it's in the next town somewhere actually." Bendy answers smiling.

"Oh! What town?" Mugman asks beaming.

"It looks like it's a place called….Glass Village." Cups and Mugs faces go white drawing Bendy's attention when he looks up.

"Guys are you ok?" Felix asks curiously, Cups sighs sadly lightly patting his brother on the back as his eyes start to water and he starts to sniffle. Karma moves from her spot beside Bendy and kneels in front of the cup brothers.

"Cups?" Karma lightly places her hand on top of his bringing him out of his dazed state, he sighs deeply with glassy eyes.

"Glass village….is….was…our home..."

*End Ch. 6*


	7. Broken Glass

**Ch. Broken Glass**

"Glass Village...was our home..." Cups sighed sadly wiping a stray tear from his eye as he looked up into the caring eyes of Karma. Her sapphire orbs filled with worry and sadness as an air of tension filled the room.

"Are you okay Cup?" She said placing a gentle hand on his cheek, he averted her gaze but leaned into her hand anyway. His gaze shifts over to his brother who sniffs and hugs Boris squeezing the poor wolf in a tight embrace.

"Yea just some bad memories..." He smiles sadly at Karma who puts her forehead to his making him blush, "If you ever need to talk just know that we're here for you okay?" He nods and she kisses his forehead before standing back up and walking over to Ender and giving her a hug.

"Thank you for letting us rest here Ender but we should probably get going."

"Awww okay...b-but if you need anything just hit me up!" Ender said smiling sadly and hugging her back, Karma smiles and nods as Bendy, Boris, Felix and the cup bros stand up. Raully and Fanny look at each other then to their friends and stand holding hands.

"And this is where we take out leave. Karma, Felix has all a copy of all of my notes with an ingredient list for your serum and Bendy's pills in case you run out." Raully pauses and gives his childhood friend a hug before pulling away to allow Fanny to do the same.

"Keep us updated on your journey and let me know if your condition changes or..."

"Raully I'll be fine...hehe...I have Cups and Bendy with me we'll be fine." Karma chuckles halting ringtail's rant as the group prepared to leave.

~ Fast forward 30 minutes ~

After waving goodbye to Ender the group parted ways, Raully and Fanny went back to the mountains as Bendy, Boris, Felix, Karma and the Cup bros walked toward Glass Village. Bendy and Boris led the way as they walked toward the end of town and entered the whispering woods, the trek was quiet as no one had spoken since they left Ender's beach house.

As the sun rose high in the sky Felix and Cups looked back and noticed that their friends were getting tired, they smiled at one another taking a break as they waited for everyone else to catch up.

"How about we take a break and make camp?" Felix smiled as Bendy nodded and nearly collapsed onto his brother as he tried to hold his own, Mugman and Karma yawned leaning against one another for support. Cups coughed into his hand drawing attention to himself for a brief moment, "So who wants to go get firewood?"

"Boris and I can! Is that okay Boris?" Mugman said standing up straight making Karma stumble forward and into Bendy's arms. They both blushed for a second looking into one another's eyes before Karma broke contact and stood up dusting herself off,

"Yea that's fine. Let's go so we can make some lunch!"

Karma and Cups' stomachs growled at the mention of food and nodded ushering them away as the rest of the group set up camp. A few hours pass as the little group sits around the fire waiting for their vegetable soup to be ready.

"Oh right I only packed for the five of us except Karma..." Boris said as he pulled five bowls out of his bag frowning while Mugman stirred the pot.

"That's okay Boris I have a bowl for her in my bag!" Felix calls over pulling another bowl out of his bag and handed it to Karma with a big smile, trying not to move the napping devil. Karma and Cups chuckled at the adorable image as the sly fox quickly snapped a photo before Bendy woke up, "Aww I'm keeping this one for my photo album!" She said smiling as Cup peered over her shoulder at the photo of Bendy.

"You're keeping a photo album?" Cups asked as he watched her dig through her bag and pull out a makeshift book with handwritten letters on the front.

"But of course! I want to remember this adventure with my friends! It'll make for a great keepsake that I can show Mickey and the gang when we get back!" Karma exclaimed as Bendy began to stir, leaning back into Cups' chest she held the book out in front of her for him to see.

"See there are a lot of great photos in here! I used to take a lot of photos in-between shows when no one was watching so I could catch the perfect moment and it wouldn't look staged." He nodded smiling to himself as he leaned against the tree feeling Karma's soft fur against his skin, her tail swished with excitement when she came across her beach photos that she had taken of them the day before.

"FOOD'S READY!" Mugs called out as he and Boris began to pour the healthy soup into the bowls for everyone, Cups frowned as she closed the book placing it back into her bag as she was handed a piping hot bowl full of soup.

"Bon Appetite!" Boris said happily giving Bendy and Felix their bowls as Mugs gave one to Cup, "Bo petite?" Mugs smiled as his brother shrugged graciously taking the bowl.

"It means enjoy." Karma said giggling at the confused boys before chowing down.

"Mmm! This is really good!" Felix exclaimed savoring the flavor in each bite, Bendy shrugged smiling. "It's no bacon soup but it's still good...plus I guess this _is_ healthier for us."

As the small party finished up their meal Boris pulled out his clarinet and started to play making Mugman's and Karma's eyes light up, "Wow Boris I didn't know you could play!" Karma said excitedly wagging her tail back and forth causing Bendy to chuckle as each swish hit Cups in the leg.

"You're so good at it! Does Bendy play anything?" Mugs said beaming, Boris smiled.

"Thanks and Bendy used to play guitar." Felix whistled watching as Karma's eyes gleamed, "Really?! Do you still play?"

"It was a long time ago and I might not be as good as i used to be, but every now and then I do still play." Bendy grinned sheepishly blushing at the innocence in Karma's eyes as Cuphead started to laugh.

"And why are you laughing?" Bendy said scowling at the laughing cup.

"I just heard 'Bendy plays guitar' and immediately thought of you playing a guitar that was twice your size. Hehe." Cups chuckled as the handsome little devil muttered something under his breath as he turns to see the rest of their group laughing as well.

"Well that is a funny image." Boris chuckles earning a glare from his big brother.

"Alright this is the last straw! Wait..." Bendy says trailing off as he realized what he just said, Karma and Felix snicker as Cups runs a hand through his hair and over his straw smiling.

"Actually it's a bendy straw..." Karma said giggling, "Why yes it is, thanks for noticing...hey that should totally be our team name!" Cups said excitedly earning a laugh from Karma and a hardened glare from Bendy.

"Hey why don't you and Boris play a song together Bendy?" Felix asks pulling out a random guitar out of nowhere, "Where'd that guitar come from?" Boris asked eyeing the guitar, Felix chuckled scratching his head nervously.

"Oh I always have a collapsible guitar on hand in case Karma needs it." The fox smiles blushing and nods as Felix hands the guitar over to Bendy who starts to play with Boris joining in on his clarinet (Gypsy Jazz Clarinet/Guitar Duo "All of Me"). After a few minutes the song was over and everyone clapped.

"Nice! Encore!" Mugs said excitedly with gleaming eyes, Boris chuckled and playfully nudged Bendy seeing as Karma was smiling at him.

"Yea play another song Bendy." Karma said making him blush, he smiled thinking of one before adjusting the strings and began to play again ("Count on Me" - Bruno Mars). Boris just tapped his empty bowl like a drum as his brother played, Bendy smiled like the world was at peace while he played. Absorbed in the music he didn't notice Karma and Felix smiling at one another as they relaxed, Cup had a sad smile on his face as he watched his brother nod his head to the music.

'I wish we really could be friends...but when they find out, they'll hate us for sure...' Cups sighed thinking as the song came to an end and everyone clapped, he smiled a small smile chuckling.

"That's cute Bendy." Cups says yanking the guitar out of his hand and sitting back down by his brother and Karma, "Let me show you how it's done." Karma's eyes lit up instantly.

"You can play Cups?" He smirked and winked at her making Bendy grind his teeth in anger, "He's bluffing."

"Am I?" Cups said strumming the guitar like a trained professional, he closed his eyes genuinely enjoying himself as their little group of friends stared in awe as Mugs joined in and sang with his brother ("Carry on my Wayward Son" - Peter Hollens Cover). As he played he let all of his worries slip on by not realizing that the infamous Black Hat was watching them, Black Hat's eyes narrowed in anger at Cups' defiance and vowed to settle things as the sun dipped down below the trees covering the little campsite in darkness as the red flames of their campfire lit up the night sky.

By the time the song had come to an end Karma's eyes held stars as she looked upon the brothers in a new musical light, "Wow..." she whispered smiling as the brothers smiled at each other giving Felix back the little guitar.

"That was amazing guys! Well I guess it's getting late and we should settle in for the night." Felix says about to put the guitar away when Bendy and Cups looked at one another slyly.

"Wait we haven't heard Karma sing yet. We couldn't possibly fall asleep without hearing her sing." Cups said feigning disappointment as Bendy nodded.

"Yea! How could we possibly go to sleep without the angel's song?" Karma blushed a deep red making the boys laugh, she closed her eyes tight trying to calm down as Felix pulled her into a light embrace.

"Hmm...well I guess that's fair...We can sing a song together Karma, just like when we were kids huh?" Felix said as his cousin's face slowly turned white again a shy smile playing on her lips. The black cat looked up to see the shocked faces of their little entourage and chuckled.

"No way Mr. Felix you sing?" Bendy's eyes lit up with excitement barely being able to contain himself he held onto Boris for support, the little wolf chuckled as once again Bendy's inner fangirl was showing.

"Yes I do and play the guitar. Well I guess we'll end the show then." Felix strummed the guitar and started to sing as Karma joined in in the second half (Lifehouse feat. Natasha Bedingfield - Between the Raindrops).

As their song came to a stop Bendy, Boris, Mugs and Cups just stared in awe with their jaws nearly touching the ground, Boris was the first to snap out of it when he suddenly smiled and blushed.

"That was amazing you guys!" The wolf beamed getting uncomfortably close to the fox, she flattened her ears against her head as she smiled nervously.

"That...was awesome..." Bendy smiled making Karma blush deeply as Felix laughed at her nervousness. Mugs smiled yawning as he stretched before falling asleep as he gave a thumbs up before passing out against a tree opposite of his brother. Cups smirks at the cousins as Felix pats Karma on the back before putting the collapsable guitar away, they smile at one another before yawning and falling asleep back to back. Bendy chuckled before he saw Cups rummage through Karma's bag and pulled out her camera, the little devil looked quizzically at him as he motioned for him to move silently so he could take a picture of Karma and Felix sleeping. After snapping the photo he chuckled showing the picture to Bendy who smiled and silently laughed before Cups put the camera and photo away, the two smiled at one another before dozing off for the night.

As Cuphead doses off sleeping against a tree, leaves rustled in a bush behind Cuphead when gloved hands appeared covering his mouth and dragging him a few yards away before slamming him into a tree. Opening his eyes in a glare he was about to yell when his bright orange orbs widened in horror at the sight of... "Black Hat..." he whispered before being slammed into the tree again as Black Hat wrapped a hand around Cups' neck.

"What dear child do you think you are doing?" Black Hat hissed as Cups struggled for air.

"W-we-"

"You are getting close to them! You aren't doing your jobs! Your too busy MAKING FRIENDS! Or did you forget? You and your brother work for _ME_! Got it?!"He paused frustrated as he loosened his grip just enough to allow Cups to breathe. "You are supposed to be DESTROYING THEM! DESTROYING THE MACHINE PIECES!"

"Y-yes b-bu-" Cups stuttered trying to regain the breath he lost and speak.

"NO BUTS CUPHEAD! You AND your good for nothing brother are to do what I said!" Black Hat exclaims lifting Cups off the ground a little "Do you understand? Heh, because I don't think you do." Black Hat says with a big smirk on his face for a second before glaring as the young Cup diverted his eyes away thinking he heard something.

"Cuphead LOOK AT ME!" Cup turns and looks at him. Black Hat drops him harshly, "There will be consequences and this is your taste of what's to come." Black Hat chuckles with an evil grin as he powers his hand and sucker punches Cups in the stomach making him crash into another tree. He cries out in pain causing Bendy to stir.

"GET UP!" Black Hat yells picking up the injured cup by the throat again he smirks as his claws glow a deep red as he slashes his stomach leaving a deep gash. Bendy wakes up and looks around as he hears some ruffling noises behind him.

"C-Cuphead?" Bendy says starting to get up curiously as he hears voices nearby.

"YOU ARE NOT TO DISOBEY ME AGAIN! Or next time I will involve that sweet little fox!" Black Hat drops Cups making him wince in pain, he sneered at the young man before catching a glimpse of movement. "This is your last warning Cups. Disobey me again and I will have your heads."

Cups exhales painfully, clutching his stomach he limped back to the campsite before collapsing by the tree he was sleeping on.

"C-Cuphead…w-what happened!?" A white faced Bendy whispers harshly looking at Cups.

"I-It's nothing...go back to bed Bendy." Cups whispers back laying down trying to hide his new wounds. Bendy glares at him and waits until Cups falls back asleep before quietly and carefully as he can crawls over to Cup trying to see as much as possible.

'He's bleeding?! What happened?' Bendy thought with wide eyes as the suns morning rays peaked through the trees, shining fresh morning light on the little campsite.

As the sun rose and the little group began to stir Karma noticed how Bendy was cautiously watching Cups as he tried to stand, she looked at Cups and noticed that the side of his shirt was stained red.

"Okay guys if everyone is ready let's head to glass village!" Felix exclaimed excited to be continuing on the adventure, they all nod as Cups tries to smile trying to hide his injuries.

"Cups you okay bro?" Mugs asked noticing that something was off with his brother who just casually leaned against a tree and waved it off.

"Yep yep, totally fine...Go ahead and I'll catch up..." Mugs sighed worried but shrugged it off and walked with the rest of the group with Cups, Bendy and Karma bringing up the rear.

"Cups are you alright? You've been awfully quiet." Bendy asked suspiciously watching him, Cups sighed and nodded.

"Hm? Yea I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am...really."

"No you're not….Cups man your bleeding."

"Wha-?! Oh so I am."

"What happened last night Cup?" Bendy said stopping drawing Karma's attention as Cups shocked and annoyed expression explained everything.

"Oh...nothing." Cups said shrugging it off drawing a worried look from the fox, making him look away.

"It wasn't nothing Cups, I heard part of your conversation. I heard him hurt you. Now tell me whats going on!" Bendy said raising his voice a bit causing the group to stop.

"It's none of your concern Bendy..."

"YES IT IS CUPS!" Bendy finally yells drawing everyone's attention.

"Bendy its fine, no need to get angry." Cups says putting his hands up as he noticed Bendy's eyes starting to grow red.

"NO! TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!?" Mugs looking at Cups worried.

"Cup?" Mugs asked reaching out for his brother with glassy eyes.

"FINE BENDY!" Cups shouts making the little group cringe at his sudden outburst. He sighs and takes off the remnants of his torn shirt revealing bright red claw marks across his lower abdomen and dark bruising on his back making Mugs cries horrified.

"Last night…Black Hat found us...found me...and he's not happy with what we are doing." Cups sighed looking down in shame as he glanced over at his little brother.

"Wh-wha- w-why didn't you tell me?" Mugs cried lightly putting his hand over his brother's wounds,"I was trying to protect you. I let him has him hash it out on me so he wouldn't hurt you."

"Wait…who's Black Hat?" Boris asked curiously.

"He's the one that was making them hunt us….what is he doing following us!?" Cups looks at Bendy and at the group and stops at mugs and sighs defeated.

"He's still following us….to make sure we do what we were told….." Cups says making his hands into fists.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?" A steamed bendy asks starting to get railed up.

"We...we were only supposed to pretend to be friends...and we were still gonna try to stop you from repairing the machine…." Cups says looking at the ground then back up to a very VERY angry Bendy.

"You mean to say that you were FAKING this ENTIRE TIME!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE DON'T FIX THIS MACHINE!? HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL DIE!? HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY DIED!? WHAT ABOUT KARMA!? WHAT ABOUT ME!? YOU WANT TO JUST THROW ALL OF THAT AWAY TO APPEAL TO SOME….MONSTER!? WHY!?" Bendy now at full power punches Cups into a nearby tree making him cry out.

"BENDY STOP!" Karma calls out as Bendy picks up Cuphead by the throat pinning him down as he struggles for air.

"WE ARE BEING FORCED! IT WAS YOU GUYS OR US!" Cup chokes out before Karma pushes Bendy off of him.

"I SAID STOP! BOTH OF YOU!" Karma yells breaking apart the squabble.

"YOUR CHOOSING TO SIDE WITH HIM?! WHAT THEM?! THEY BETRAYED US KARMA!" Bendy yelled angrily with eyes ablaze as shadows enveloped his whole body, but she stood firm.

"We don't know the full story Bendy! Give them a chance to explain before passing judgement please!" Karma yelled back as she and Mugs helped Cups up off the ground, Bendy glared back angrily.

"If you side with them then you're dead to me." Bendy says eerily calm causing everyone to gasp as Karma looks away angrily with tears in her eyes, "Fine..."

Bendy huffs angrily and stalks off with Boris not too far behind. Cups puts one hand on her shoulder but she shrugs it off and walks off toward the village.

"I-I need to be alone..." With her heart shattered and tears like rain falling from her sapphire eyes she walks away. It was silent for a moment before Cups and Mugs and turn to leave as well leaving Felix alone at the campsite. Saddened by the sudden outcome of what happened he sighs and glances in the direction of Bendy and Boris spying ink splotches among the damage.

"Ink?! Oh no, Bendy!" Felix exclaims running after the brothers.

~ With Karma ~

"T-That j-jerk...he doesn't care...h-he never cared..." Karma stuttered dropping to her knees as she cried, "H-he doesn't love me...he never did...I am a fool...I thought he cared about me...a-and now I've lost them both..." She sighed not realizing that Mugman and Cups had come up behind her.

"I-I was a fool to think that we could all do this together...I-I'm just a useless doctor that can't even k-keep my friends s-safe...I-I thought this c-could work...I thought we could b-be a family...I-I thought..." Drawing in a shaky breath she sighed, with each she spoke Mugman's heart broke and Cuphead's soul shattered.

"I thought we could all be friends...everything was g-going fine...b-but it's all over now...Bendy's never going to forgive me...m-my friends are gone...I-I can't do this anymore...b-being strong? W-what a joke...n-no one cares anymore..." Karma sobbed in silence as the hot tears rolled down her cheeks like waterfalls.

Cups dropped to his knees behind her and wrapped her in a loving hug not saying a word, "W-why Cup?" she inhaled and listened as the brothers were silent for a few minutes, tightening his loving embrace he sighed.

"There's something we need to show you..."

~With Bendy, Boris and Felix ~

"BENDY!"

"FELIX! H-he won't take the pills…..h-he says he deserves this." Boris yells as a trail of tears streams down his face.

"I deserve t-this...just...l-let me die! Everyone will be a lot happier without me..." Bendy whispers turning away from Felix as he coughs up more ink.

"H-hey don't talk like that. Here take these pills and you'll be alright you're just upset..." Felix says holding out a couple pills but the little devil turns away shaking.

"N-no I told K-karma she was d-dead to me...and C-Cups...he...he betrayed us...they betrayed us...I...I'm sorry Felix...B-Boris..."

With a stern look in his eyes Felix take the pills forces Bendy to take the pills.

"There we are...Bendy are you alright?" Felix said patting his back, he sighed and nodded.

"Good...Now I'm sure Cups isn't feeling too great either. But we can't be mad at him. We don't know their reasoning behind what they do, but I feel like they genuinely want to be friends and they didn't want to betray you. Now lets go back and find them huh? Hear their story." Bendy sat for a second before glancing up at Boris with saddened eyes.

"I-I guess your right Felix." Boris gives his brother a hug and a sad smile before Felix picks up the tired demon and starts to walk back.

"Bendy….?"

"Hm?"

"That was pretty terrifying little man, where did that all come from?" Felix said as leaves crunched under his boots, Bendy sleepily closed his eyes as he thought about what he was going to do next.

"What? Oh you mean all the shadow power and such…..um….I don't really know…I know when I get angry my eyes glow but it's never gotten that bad before."

~ With Cuphead, Mugman and Karma ~

The trio walked in silence as the trees began to thin out and a gravel road came into view. As crushed stone crunched beneath their feet Karma sniffled every now and then as she and Mugman helped to balance Cuphead.

"Are you sure I can't treat your wounds Cup? They'll get infected if I don't." Karma glanced at him and he nodded, "It's okay I think they're already healing anyway." He paused sighing.

"We're here..." Looking up from the trail Karma's heart dropped.

"Welcome to Glass Village." Mugs says sadly as they walk past a broken sign that was barely hanging on its hinges, glass shards lay scattered on the ground as houses sat burned and broken as they walked into the destroyed village.

Rubble lined the streets as an air of solemnness dawned on the group as the brothers reminisced on old times. Buildings burdened by fire damage and crumbling walls surrounded a central square where a broken fountain filled with ash pointed toward a crumbling house at the far side of the square. What used to be a beautifully crafted two story house now a pile of brick and ashen walls, a black chimney reached for the sky as the bay window sat upon singed support beams as shattered glass littered the floor. Wooden floor boards threatening to break welcomed them into the barren house as the remains of burned curtains blew in the wind.

"W-What happened?" Karma asked as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, Mugs shared the tears as Cups stood up straight and limped toward what once was their house.

"This used to be our home..." Cups sighed sadly as he touched a beam before carefully venturing inside with Mugman not far behind.

'Poor guys...they've lost everything but each other...' Karma thought to herself as she gave the boys their space as she waited for the rest of their group to catch up.

About an hour passes before Felix, Bendy and Boris come walking up the road of the devastated village. Boris runs up and gives Karma a hug as Felix and Bendy stop beside her, Bendy's face is filled with sorrow and regret as he locks eyes with Karma before turning away.

"Karma I...I'm sorry for everything. I didn't mean it I was just upset that you took his their side over mine a-and it hurt...And...I want you to know that I do care about you...I-I love you Karma and I...I was just upset. I really am sorry...forgive me?" Bendy says getting off of Felix's back and smiles softly at her waiting for her reaction.

"You said that I was dead to you for taking their side...that broke my heart Bendy...I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you yet..." Karma said folding her arms over her chest and looking away with watery eyes, Bendy sighed nodding walking up to her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I understand Karma...I'm sorry."

Bendy sighs sadly as he walks passed Karma before heading into the house. Moaning boards and charred rumble crunched under their feet as they carefully maneuvered through the burned carnage. Mugs sniffled as he sifted through the rubble handing Cups a broken picture frame with their only surviving family photo tucked away inside.

"What happened here?" Felix whispered placing a gentle hand on a wall stained black.

" _HE_ happened." Cups says throwing the frame in his hand to the ground; Mugs looks at the ground as Cup explains their origins and what happened that day.

"It was nice here once...hehe...everyone was happy...people laughing, we were all one big happy family." Cups smiles sadly plopping down on the remnants of a couch. "One day this man came to town…Black Hat….he said our society 'needed help' and he was here to free us from our struggles. We of course were confused, we thought everyone was already happy. He talked to the mayor of the town….our father…..and made promises of safety for our family...our village...from the outside world. Away from everything that could hurt us." Mugman walked up and stood beside Cups staring at the ground with a face like stone.

"One day Mugs and I were playing in the woods...it was like any other day….then there was an explosion," Cups sighs picking up the photo from the floor and handing it to Bendy and Boris.

"We came back to our village to see everything up in flames..." At this point Cups' calm voice began to quiver as he closed his eyes and glanced up toward the ceiling. "We could hear people screaming as they burned...sadly our mother and sister were 2 of those who were lost in the fires. When we arrived at our village and saw the devastation…we saw our father on his knees begging for his life to be spared." Opening his eyes again he looked at Bendy gauging his reaction, "In order to spare his own life….he traded ours, our SOULS to save his. We were given away and made to be Black Hat's servants….if we disobeyed we died…we should have died that day with the rest of our village. But we were spared to live in a greater hell. We don't want to do what we do but we have too." Taking off their gloves Mugs and Cups revealed a scorched mark of a top hat on their hands, "We are branded as his until he dies or we do, we are forever forced to be his servants, and when we disobey well…you saw….I'm sorry...we should have told you sooner."

"We both are." Mugman says after being silent for so long, silence filled the air as the little group thought about what they had been told. Bendy was the first to speak.

"I should be the one to apologize….I should not have stirred the pot...I-I just felt so betrayed you know?" Bendy's eyes started to well up with tears as Boris silently cried beside him. "I just couldn't hold back the anger…so I let it loose….its never been that bad before...I am so sorry Cuphead, Mugman...I should have listened to your side of the story before blowing up." Cups smiled a little as he and Bendy locked eyes for a brief moment.

"I-we accept your apology and we understand if you don't want us to continue with you anymore….." Mugs says starting to tear.

Boris looks broken heartedly at Mugs who's in tears and offers a hug as Mugs looks up and hugs his friend crying into his shoulder.

"No. W-We can't do this...we can't FINISH this without you guys. I was angry, I still am a little bit but I know everything now and I understand...we need you and we want you to continue with us." Karma smiles and helps Cups up giving him a gentle hug before letting go and giving Bendy a hug too, Cups smiles and Mugs and Boris hug happily. "Now then let's go find that piece."

*End Ch. 7*


	8. A Walk Down Memory Lane

**Ch. A Walk Down Memory Lane**

As the sun rose high into the blue sky the dust settled in the small village, exiting their long forgotten home Cups and Mugs had a new outlook on life now that they had friends on their side.

"So where's the piece?" Felix asked looking around at what used to be a loving place, now a village of devastation and despair. Bendy scratched his head trying to make heads or tails of the glowing map as they approached a large building that had long since been gutted and left to rot.

"It looks like it's in there…the map seems to glow brighter the closer we get to the building." Bendy answered as the little group looked up at what used to be city hall.

"This used to be City Hall…we would come here sometimes to get our father for dinner." Mugs said looking at the building sadly, Cups pulled him into a side hug before venturing on.

"So what exactly are we looking for and is it an obvious machine part?" Cups asked carefully maneuvering around the fallen debris, Boris glanced over Bendy's shoulder leaning on his head for a minute to get a better look.

"Um…it looks like a pair of gears." Cups stopped for a minute, "I think I might know where those are."

"Really?" Bendy asked confused as how he would know but the brothers just nodded.

"We used to get in trouble when we were younger because we would play with the gears and use them as shields for one of our games." Mugs said chuckling at the memory.

"Our father would always hide them in the same place so they were very easy to find…but now it might be a little more of a challenge." Cups said smiling a bit before sighing as a large pile of charred wood and debris stood before them.

"Well…the gears are metal right? What if I lit a small fire to burn off the debris and maybe find them a bit easier?" Karma said thinking out loud, probably more to herself than anyone else. Felix nodded, "It's worth a shot right?"

"Well everything's destroyed anyway so what would a little more fire do?" Mugs said as Karma fired up her hands but Cups held up his hand, "Why don't we look around first before setting anything on fire?" They nodded as Karma shook her hands out dousing the flames.

"Hey I think I found something!" Felix yelled from a little ways away, through the floating dust and charred wood Felix pulled out a pair of rusty gears from the pile. He held them up smiling as the little group smiled back but the moment was short lived. The large pile of debris began to shift and fall towards the unsuspecting cat making his ears perk up before turning to see the mountain collapse on top of him.

"FELIX!" Karma cried out and rushed over before anyone could stop her, tears burned her eyes as she called out for him trying to get him to answer. "Felix can you hear me?! Say something damn it!" With each passing minute her body began to pulse as a wave of the illness struck her but she didn't care, as the color from her chest down began to drain she clawed her way through the debris trying to reach her cousin before it was too late.

Minutes passed but it felt like an eternity to Karma as Mugs pulled her away to try to calm herself down as Bendy and Cups dug down reaching Felix after fifteen minutes of searching. The adventurous cat had been knocked unconscious with a large gash on his head but seemed to be alright, "F-Felix? I-Is he…?" Karma cried watching helplessly as the two boys pulled Felix out of the wreckage, digging through his pack Cups found one of her serum's and tossed it to Boris who caught it and injected it into her ceasing the decolorization of the fox.

"No he's not dead just unconscious…we'll need to take care of that head wound of his though." Bendy said helping Cups to put him on his back before walking out of the collapsing building with the two gears and Felix in hand.

Out on the dusty and broken street Bendy cleared away a spot and laid a blanket down allowing Cups to put him down safely, Karma got the first aid kit out of her bag and immediately went to work cleaning and bandaging his wound. Wiping her eyes she just sat for a minute and watched Felix sleep, she sighed.

"Get over here Cup."

"What? Why?" Cups asked taken aback by the sudden command.

"You're injured too now get your butt over here so I can treat you."

"I'm f-fine really…My wounds are already –"

"NOW Cup." Karma said giving him little room for argument as he cautiously glanced at Bendy before sitting down on the blanket beside a sleeping Felix. Gently putting her hands on his abdomen she felt for any puffiness or bruising taking out a healing solvent to clean away any bacteria from the open wounds, Cups blushed as her soft hands touched his tender skin but her face was like stone and she was in no mood to flirt. After a few minutes Cuphead was patched up, closer to being good as new, he smiled and she sighed standing up and looking off in the distance.

"I'll be back…" Karma said closing up her bag as she walked deeper into the village without looking back, after she had left the group sat in silence until a whispered purr drew their attention.

"Felix?" Boris asked softly as the black cat opened his eyes and carefully sat up, "Man I have a major headache….what happened?"

"When you grabbed the gears a mountain of debris fell on you. Karma was hysterical, she'll be happy to see you're up now though." Bendy answered handing Felix back his bag, he nodded and looked inside noticing one of Karma's serums had been used.

"She had an attack? W-where is she?" Felix said eyes wide as he looked around for her but she was nowhere to be found.

"She went for a walk, she's fine now. Just need a little space I guess." Boris said sadly rubbing his arm as he looked in the direction the heart broken fox went.

"We should probably go look for her, she hasn't come back yet." Mugs said worriedly as a raven flew overhead.

At the edge of the village Karma sat sadly thinking to herself as her tail swished from side to side, 'I hope Felix is alright…I don't know what I'd do if I lost him. He's the only real family I have left…' She sighed as a raven cawed flying overhead making her ears perk up before flattening back against her head, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she just stared at the ground. Behind her she could hear distant shouts but didn't bother to turn around until she heard Felix call her name.

"Karma!" Immediately her ears perked and her tail swished happily as she turned around and was thrown to the ground in an attack hug from Felix.

"Felix! I thought you'd never wake up!" Karma said nuzzling his chest as they both sat up in a tight embrace, she pulled away and he gently rested one hand on her cheek wiping away another stray tear.

"You know I'd never leave you Karma," He smiled and she hugged him tight snuggling into him as their little group surrounded them smiling, Cups snapped a picture of the happy moment before quickly hiding it in Karma's bag.

"You feeling better?" Felix asked kissing her on the forehead before attempting to stand with her by his side; she nodded happily as her tail wagged violently excited that her beloved cousin was alright.

"So where too next?" She beamed happily humming to herself as she waited for Bendy's answer.

"Hehe…looks like it's our turn to go down memory lane…the next piece is in Sillyvision." Bendy said smiling sadly as Boris beamed, "Hey that means that we can visit Ms. Sasha while we're there! I bet she's been real worried about us since she sent us on our way."

"Who's Ms. Sasha?" Mugs asked, "She's- "

"She owns a nightclub there; it's certainly the place to be if you're ever in the little town." Karma said cutting off the little devil, she smiled innocently at him with a gleam of sadness in her eyes as he traded confused stares with his brother.

"H-How do you know Ms. Sasha?"

"Well I lived there for a while. I would always go to the nightclub and visit with her, watching her dance is how I got started dancing." Karma smiled twirling for a second before bowing.

"Wow really!?" exclaimed Boris. "I bet she'll be really happy to see you then!"

"Yea…well let's get going then." Bendy said lowering his voice to just above a whisper drawing her attention.

"What's wrong bendy?" Karma asked noticing his sad smile.

"I'll tell you later..."

"Oh…ok Bendy." She said drooping her ears a little, catching Bendy's eye as they turned to leave.

~Fast Forward to that night~

"We still good to carry on or do you guys want to rest and set up camp again?" Cups asked turning to look at everyone about to pass out again.

"Ok I'll take that as a yes." He said chuckling as the group collapsed.

"Quite a day huh?" Cups says to himself.

"Yes…yes it was." Bendy says looking around at the battered group. Cups and Mugs have been keeping to themselves still feeling kind of bad. Bendy looks over at the cup brothers and then to Karma and Felix remembering the hurt look from Karma during his little episode.

~ _"If you side with them then you're dead to me."~_

'I can't believe I said to her….and how dumb of me to think that she would forgive me so easily…I know I wouldn't.' Bendy sighs sadly not daring to look at the fox without a tinge of guilt hanging in the air.

"So…uh…who wants to make dinner?" Felix asks yawning waiting for someone to answer.

"I will…I hope you guys like bacon soup…" Bendy said digging around in his bag for a few cans as Felix got out the clean pot from the night before.

"What's bacon soup?" Mugs asked as Cups scrunched his face making the adorable wolf laugh.

"It's actually not as gross as it sounds." Boris says with the cutest smile ever making Bendy smirk and chuckle. Watching the little devil cautiously Cups notices that Bendy seems a bit off,

"Bendy…buddy…are you alright?" Bendy sits silent for a few minutes starring at the soup not noticing the many worried faces surrounding him.

"BENDY!"

"HUH! WHA-WHAT HAPPENED!?" A very startled Bendy says coming out of his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Felix asks again looking a little worried.

"Uh…y-yea….I'm...good." He trails off again still looking at the soup sighing.

"Dinner's ready!" Boris exclaims happily as he handed out the bowls.

"Thanks Boris but I think I'm going to go for a little walk, I'll be back in a few minutes." Bendy sighs setting his soup aside as he gets up to leave.

"Bendy?" Karma looked at him with sorrow filled eyes as her handsome little devil just smiled sadly at her before walking off. Everyone remained silent for a few minutes, no one saying a word as they ate their dinner.

"That's weird…Bendy has always been the first one to dig in when we have bacon soup." Boris looked at sadly at the spot where Bendy was sitting, watching as the hot steam drifted into the air.

"I wonder what's got him upset…" Felix asked noticing that Karma's eyes had suddenly gotten glassy.

"I'll go check up on him," Cups says standing and stretching. "I wanted to patrol the perimeter anyway, I'll see what's up." He said giving Karma a soft pat between the ears as he followed after Bendy.

After walking a few feet away, the sound of sniffles caught his attention as he poked his head behind a tree spying the little demon having a meltdown.

"Hey Bends…What's wrong bud?" Cups says plopping down on the ground beside him so they were at eye level, Bendy kept his gaze toward the ground trying to hide his tears from the ever curious Cup.

"Nothing..."

"Bendy look at me…" Cups says softly putting his hand under Bendy's chin and lifting his face but the little guy still averted eye contact.

"What's wrong? You know all my dirt and can tell when I'm upset so now I'm telling you, tell me what's wrong. And don't say it's nothing because we both know that's a load. Hell, you got up and walked away from apparently your favorite food or whatever and now you're sulking by yourself…it's not nothing." After a few seconds Bendy sighs defeated knowing that Cup was right and that he should at least tell somebody. Bendy lifts his tear filled red eyes peers into the brotherly orange ones of Cup…he sighs again smacking Cups' hand from his chin making him smirk.

"Alright...but only because I need to tell someone." Bendy says showing Cups a picture.

"What's this?"

"It was our family, mine and Boris'." Bendy says smiling sadly as memories of years past flooded his head like a movie reel. "I wanted to try and get past it now so I wouldn't break down when we got to town…"

"Bendy it's been a very emotional day for all of us and I'm sure there will be more, so it's ok." Cups says getting comfortable.

"This was our family. Well Boris' family…They adopted me when I was a small child and Boris…hehe we've been inseparable since. They loved me like their own….then the illness happened." Bendy paused sniffling as a stray tear rolled down his cheek, Cups gently placed a hand on his shoulder in brotherly way receiving a small smile in return. "It hit hard… They both passed in a matter of weeks. Why its lasted so long with me I don't know but it took them….it destroyed Boris. He didn't talk for a long time after that…and now to go back after so long…it hurts you know? I mean I know you lost your family too….but in all honesty….if it wasn't for Boris…if it wasn't for his parents I'd never have had a family…and I'd be fighting this alone." Gripping the crinkled photo in his hand Bendy hid his face as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall.

"Since I was very small I was abandoned…I had nobody willing to help me…so I did what I had to do to survive…*sniff*I-we were alone for several years…and to go back now, it will be good but I don't know…the pain floods back every now and then and I try to hide it from Boris so he doesn't worry but…I don't think I can do it anymore." Bendy explains as the tears finally fall making his voice quiver and crack. Cups sat there for a minute before doing the only thing he knew and pulled Bendy into a gentle embrace, the little devil was shocked but just let it out as Cups comforted him like they were brothers.

"You don't have to try to hide your feelings from everyone Bendy, we're your friends and we're here for you. Boris, Felix, Karma, Mugs and me…we're your family and we're here if you need help." Cups pulls away watching Bendy wipe his eyes as he listened, "I know we were off to a rocky start but as your 'older brother' I'm here to tell you that being strong doesn't mean you have to hide away from the world when things get you upset. You can still be a strong little dude even if it means letting the tears flow every once in a while. Hehe I tell Mugs that all the time. But bottom line Bendy, you have family and we're not going to leave you to face your problems on your own okay?" Cups smiles down at Bendy as he stands and dusts himself off offering Bendy a hand,

"Now let's get back. I'm sure Boris is worried about you and we can't let your 'favorite food' get cold now can we?" Bendy accepts his help up and exhales smiling shyly,

"Thanks Cups...and I really am sorry about earlier…."

"It's okay Bends….we're still buds."

~ A few minutes later ~

"Finally! There you are! Is everything ok?" Felix asks catching a glance over Karma's shoulder as she changed out his bandages.

"Yea…everything's good now." Bendy says with a happy smile looking at Cups who smiles back before Karma yanked his hand and pulled him down to the ground.

"You're next Cups, I need to apply more solvent or your wounds will get infected." Karma muffles through a mouth full of gauze as she finishes Felix's wound, he nods watching her.

"Mmmmm!" Bendy says chowing down wagging his tail happily making everyone smile. As the suns remaining rays turned to darkness and the moon climbed into the sky, the little group talked and joked trying to lighten the mood from the morning's events.

"It's getting late maybe we should get some sleep huh?" Felix says starting a yawn-a-thon as one by the tired group got settled in.

"Ms. Karma…?"

"Yes sweet pea?"

"C-Can you sing for us again?" He asks blushing as the group gave her puppy eyes to do so.

"Hehe sure." Karma says humming a tune before singing everyone to sleep with her lullaby ("Into the West" by Sarah Calderwood).

"Good night guys…"

~ The next day ~

As the morning sun rose through the trees one by one the little group began to stir, Cup is the first to wake as he looks around at his friends to see everyone in the same spots they were the night before. Chuckling to himself he takes out Karma's camera and snaps a few photos of people sleeping before the rest of the group began to wake;

"How are you feeling?" He hears Karma yawn as she gently shakes her cousin awake only to have him fall into her lap still asleep, she giggles making him smile.

"I'm good, all healed up thanks to you," Cups says smiling at her as Felix stretches and looks up into the beautiful eyes of Karma, "Felix how are you feeling?"

"I'm good thanks, a little sore still but good." Felix answers smiling up at his cousin who kisses his head and pushes him off of her; the rest of the group gets up and yawns as Bendy takes a couple pills before injecting Karma with her serum.

"Uh oh, Looks like I'll have to make some more stuff for you guys. I'll get the stuff I need when we get into town." Felix says looking in his bag. The group gets up and leaves with Bendy bringing up the rear…Karma looks back and stops waiting for the little devil to catch up.

"Bendy…honey are you ok?" Karma asked concern written all over her face.

"Yea….I-I'm good. Why do you ask?" He stuttered blushing a little as he stared into her soft blue eyes.

"I was just thinking….you seemed so upset last night…what was bothering you?"

"Just some old memories…Karma?" Bendy says stopping as the group continues on ahead.

"Yes bendy?"

"I-I really do care for you…I didn't mean to upset you so much yesterday….I really am sorry…a-and…"He pauses rubbing his arm nervously making Karma cock her head to one side.

"I-I love you!" Bendy says suddenly closes his eyes tightly, they were silent for a minute not noticing that the group had stopped and watched them. She sighs sadly…

"I love you too…but not in the same way…" She pauses with glassy eyes as he sighs as well nodding and looking down at the ground, "I…I'm sorry Bendy…" They glanced at each other noticing the hurt expression of the other, Bendy smiles sadly and wraps her up in a hug.

"Yea me too…but as long as you're happy with him, then I'll be happy." Bendy says looking into her big sapphire eyes wiping a tear away, "But if he hurts you he'll have hell to pay." He smiles making her giggle and hug tightly once more before letting go.

"Thank you Bendy…now come one we should probably catch up…" He nods sadly and sighs one more time before racing her up the hill. Karma smiles running up to Felix and Cups with Bendy smiling sadly at Cups earning a confused look before he glances down at Karma then back at the little Devil.

"Welcome to Sillyvision." Boris says smiling as the little group breathes a sigh of relief as they begin to descend down the hill, Mugs and Boris race down the hill as Karma and Felix walk down cautiously so they don't trip. Bendy sighs again as he starts to walk down the hill with Cups close behind.

"Hey Bendy…what's wrong?" Cups said putting a hand on Bendy's shoulder making him slow a little, he sighed again.

"She rejected me…"

"What? Ouch…" Cups says rubbing his arm, "Sorry bro." Bendy sighed and shrugged.

"Whatever makes her happy makes me happy, but if you hurt her Cups I swear I will make you regret every second you're alive." Bendy says pointing an accusing finger at him surprising Cups.

"Me? Wait a minute she chose me over you?" Cups beamed a little before deflating and smiling nervously as Bendy glared daggers at him.

"Yes, she chose you over me….congrats" says a sad bendy.

"It's ok buddy. She still loves you just not the same way."

"Yea…" walking up on the town they see Boris and Mugs had beaten them to the entrance.

"This is our home." says Boris gleaming

"Yea…." Says bendy as the memories come back, still a little down Felix notices and just rubs him on the back.

"Bendy look! There's Sasha's club!" yelled an excited Boris.

"We should go see her! I'm sure she's missed us!" says bendy pulling him to the front of the group while he looks back at Karma. The group continues to walk when out of nowhere Felix is tackled to the ground by his other cousins.

"FELIX!"

"Oh. Hey guys I forgot you lived in Sillyvision…Where's your parents?" Felix says looking around catching eyes with a very cold Karma.

"Who are your friends?" asks Karma's mother walking up with her husband.

"Oh hello…" Karma's mother looks over the group and locks eyes on an angry Karma.

"Karma…I see your still alive…that's a shame." She says with a smile glaring at Karma.

"I see you're still a witch….has hell not being treating you well?" Karma says with a smirk. The group just kind of stands there watching.

"How dare you!" Karma stands there cold faced as her mother gets angry.

"You're welcome." Karma says smirking again.

"Felix how have you been doing? I can't imagine the trouble you've had with this….creature." Karma's mother redirected her gaze from Karma to Felix. Boris and Mugs gasped as Bendy and Cups were floored.

"WE are doing very well actually. I don't know what creature you're talking about but life has been pretty good since we left." Felix said pulling Karma into a side hug making her purr.

"What a shame Felix, I thought you would have learned your lesson and left that _thing_ to rot, your parents would be ashamed." The boys gasped Felix's eyes widened as Karma starting to growl and light up her hands without harming her dear cousin.

"DO NOT use my parents against me…they loved me and Karma! At least my parents weren't monsters!" Felix yells angrily with his ears flattened against his head. Karma's parents sneered at the cousins lifting their noses up into the air.

"Well I never! And I thought you were more well-mannered then this Felix. You've been spending too much time with that…that _demon_ that she's corrupted your way of thinking." Cups noticed Karma shaking with anger as her flames turned from blue to black, his eyes widened as she was dangerously close to doing something she might regret.

"My cousin did not corrupt me! It's no wonder she never talks about you guys! You've made her an outcast and she's done nothing to deserve such awful behavior!" Felix yells back as Boris pulls him back away from Karma.

"How can you talk to your child like that?! What is wrong with you!?" Bendy yells making Karma gasp and stop shaking.

"You're her FAMILY, you're supposed to love her! Not treat her like trash!" Cups said joining in on the argument glaring at her parents as he places his hands on her shoulders making her calm down. "She's a precious angel and for you to treat her so harshly is a crying shame."

Karma's mother sneered at the group directing her children away from the motley lot.

"She's not my child. I would never love anything that monstrous." Karma's mother said smirking evilly as she watched her daughter's world shatter before her, "And I would behoove you boys to do the same, she's a menace and needs to be dealt with accordingly."

"Well who would want to love anything with such a black heart like you is beyond me, how's that treating you by the way?" Karma says smirking sadly as she watched her mother become enraged.

"You insolate child! How dare you talk to my wife that way?" Karma's father yelled holding her mother in a comforting embrace, "Come on you guys lets go before this hell-child does something to us."

"Hell-child? Oh I'll show you a monster…the monster you turned me into!" Karma says again flaring up her angered fists not realizing that Cups was standing behind her,

"Karma calm down!" Cups said pulling her back into a hug as the black flames on her hands burned him, "Come on don't waste your time on them." Karma sighed angrily shaking her hands out touching Cups' burned arms, her eyes widen in shock as she quickly turns around to see red burns on Cups arms.

"Cups! I-I didn't m-mean too, I-I'm sorry!" Karma cries looking over his arms and rummaging around in her bag, he sighs smiling he gently grabs her chin making her look at him, her large blue orbs glassy and brimming with tears. His heart melts.

"It was an accident. It's alright," Cups says with a smile. "Look at me, I've had worse…obviously. A little burn is nothing. Okay?" Cups runs his thumb over her cheek clearing away any stray tears and kisses her forehead making her blush. She nods sniffling as Felix pulls her into a hug and squeezes tightly.

"Thanks for defending me guys." She says nuzzling Felix making him purr. "F-Felix…I'm sorry." Karma says leaning into his shoulder.

"It's all good Karma." Felix says smiling rubbing noses with her making her smile and blush.

"Well I'm going to go to the store and get more supplies…I'll meet you guys at Sasha's." The black cat says letting Karma go and ruffling her hair making her swat his hand away. Bendy smiles at Karma and wraps her in a gentle embrace smiling at Cups over her shoulder before letting go, "You have a new family now and we love you no matter what." She nods smiling as he lets go and runs after Felix. Karma giggles a little as Boris and Mugman suddenly smother her with hugs before letting go, Cups holds his hand out to her and she graciously accepts before walking to the Nightclub to meet Sasha.

"Felix…Are you alright? I've never seen you angry before." Bendy asks trying to catch his breath, Felix sighs nodding as he waited for the little devil to calm himself.

"Yea…I just got really riled up you know?…Bendy...thanks for stepping in. I know you really care about her…about us and I'm sorry she turned you down."

"Yea…me too…And you're welcome. We're family, so we need to have each other's backs." Bendy says with a happy smile making Felix smile and feel better.

"So what are we getting from the store?"

"Oh stuff for Karma's serum and your pills. I have Raully's instructions here and a list of what we need to get…Divide and conquer?" Felix chuckles giving Bendy half the list.

"How about we make it a race?" Bendy says smirking, making Felix smile back "Last one to the counter pays for drinks?"

"Deal."

~ Meanwhile at the club ~

Boris, Mugs, Cups and Karma all walk into the club. Sasha caught eyes with…

"BORIS!"

"SASHA!" They both say happily hugging. Looking around she sees karma.

"K-Karma? Is that you? What happened to you girl?" Sasha says hugging her.

"I-It's a long story…"

"Well that's alright we will have time to catch up later. So Boris….where's Bendy?" she says with a worried look on her face. Boris gives her a smile and says "Oh Bendy is with Felix. They had to run to the store, they should be back anytime now."

"No way, Felix is here too!? That's great! It's like a big happy family reunion!"

"Yep…sure is."

"Karma honey, you must come see what I've done to the place. I have some new dances I want to show you as well." The girls walk off talking like nothing ever changed. Cups and Mugs look at each other and to Boris and smile.

"So Boris...How do you and Bendy know Sasha? How does Karma know Sasha?" asks Mugs and Cups.

"Um….well… as for Karma I have no idea but for us..."Boris says sadly and looks down. "When my parents died from the…..ahem….um we came here. We had been coming here all our lives actually she was friend with my parents and she's actually how me and Bendy met…Bendy's had a tough life." Boris looks up sad with tears in his eyes, as Mugs hugs him. "Before I met him…he was abandoned and alone. He would steal and do whatever he could to survive. One day my family and I walked past an alley and I heard a small noise…it was Bendy…he was rummaging through some things when Sasha came out and handed him some food. When she saw me she introduced me to him…he told me he was homeless, that he was alone. I gave him a hug and told him not anymore because we are now brothers." Boris says with a smile.

"When we walked out of the alley together and Sasha came up with us. She explained to my father who he was and where he came from and if he could help it would be greatly appreciated. My mother looked at him and looked at my father who smiled and said 'Welcome Home' with open arms. And we've been together ever since. When my parents died and it was just Bendy and I, Sasha took us in for a little while. She's actually the one who helped us start on this journey." Boris says smiling and looking at Sasha.

"She's always had a thing for Bendy too." Boris says with a little smirk. Cups and Mugs just look at him and smile.

"I'm sorry about your parents Boris…they sounded like great people."

"Thanks. They were…it's just me and Bendy now. I don't know what I would do without him."

"Hey we're back!" yells Felix with Bendy walking in behind.

"Sasha!" Bendy exclaims happily waving over the two ladies.

"Felix, Bendy there you are! " Sasha said walking up to the boys swaying her hips and swishing her fluffy tail, she smiles evilly.

"WHACK!"

"What the hell Sasha!? What was that for!?" Bendy yells rubbing his sore cheek as Karma just giggled at him from behind the sexy fox.

"You have not said a word to me since you left! I have been worried! What if you guys got hurt?! Or worse what if you died?!" Sasha exclaimed with watery eyes as Karma gave her a hug and patted her shoulder trying to hide her giggles.

"You know if you really wanted to you could have just called." Bendy says as Boris helped him up off the floor. Sasha huffed turning on her heel as if she was insulted.

"Well the phone works both ways boys." Sasha said leaning on the stage with Karma standing beside her, she blew a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"Well now that my sweet little devil is here we can get this party started." She smirked turning to Karma who blushed and shifted uncomfortably, Bendy and Cups looked at one another as Mugs and Boris just smiled.

"But I don't want to Sasha…" Karma whispered, but the sexy fox just waved it off.

"Nonsense sweet pea, they'll love it! Plus it'll make you feel better too!" Karma glanced at Sasha who made puppy eyes at her and batted her eyelashes making Karma sigh and drop her head in defeat.

"Boris you ready to strike up the band sweetheart?" Boris beamed so brightly that it became contagious, making Mugs' eyes gleam and Bendy smile happily he wagged his tail with so much force that he knocked over a couple chairs.

"S-so what are we doing?" Karma asks nervously as Sasha climbs up on stage.

"Dancing of course sweetie!" Sasha smiles grabbing the poor girl by the shoulders and yanks her up on stage.

"I know where dancing but what are we doing?"

"Just relax and feel the beat." As the music starts to play Sasha throws Karma a mic and starts to sing ("Better when I'm Dancing" – Megan Trainor) after a few seconds Karma joins in and sings along. Cups smiles as the girls begin to dance in sink, pulling out Karma's camera he takes photos until she grabs his hand and pulls him on the stage. He stands there for a second before he and Karma start dancing together with Karma leading, Bendy catches the camera and takes some pictures smiling. Just as suddenly as Cups was dragged on stage, Sasha grabs him and does the same making Bendy blush as they swing around the stage together. Mugs laughs as his brother makes faces at him while he takes pictures, Boris just smiles as he happily plays along to the beat; when the song comes to a close the small group on stage bow allowing Mugs to take a few more pictures. Cups dips Karma down in front of Sasha and Bendy who chuckle, making Karma blush. Boris is gleaming with excitement as he joins their group on stage.

"See Karma don't you feel better now?" Sasha asks winking at Bendy making him blush even more. Cups blushes a bit as he hops off the stage offering his hand to Karma who accepts and jumps off the stage, he catches her and wraps her in a gentle embrace smiling. As Bendy and Sasha gets off the stage Cups takes the opportunity and kisses Karma on the lips surprising her making her practically melt happily in his arms, he chuckles and snuggles her before letting go. Sasha and Felix laugh at the cherried fox as Mugs walks over and hands Cups back the camera.

"Hey how about a group photo of everyone?" Mugs suggests as a security guard walks up to Sasha, she smiles nodding and shoves the camera into the guard's hand that just shrugs and takes the photo.

"Ms. Sasha you have a visitor and he doesn't look friendly." The security guard whispers gesturing towards the front door, she nods and ushers her friends to hide before she and the guard walk over and open the door. Standing before her was a large brawny wolf wearing rather dark clothes for such a nice day.

"May I help you sir?" Sasha asked leaning against the doorframe crossing her arms preventing him from entering her establishment.

"Oh yes ma'am. My name is Hanson and I'm looking for a couple of fugitives." Hanson said taking out a photo of Cuphead and Mugman taken some time ago, Sasha swallows and shakes her head.

"Sorry honey, I've never seen these two before in my life." Sasha narrows her eyes slightly at the big brute when Hanson glares back scanning the club behind her for any sign of the brothers, his eyes widen a bit when he spots a familiar white and black fox. Karma walked up behind Sasha with black stage make-up around her eyes and cheeks to make her look different as she approached, Hanson's recognition was dropped when he noticed the different look she had and the weird clothes she was wearing.

"Sasha darlink, we have a problem…It seems dat one of ze vater pipes broke again." Karma said with her best Russian accent, Hanson sized her up and smiled.

"Well hello there, you wouldn't happen to have seen these two would you miss?"

"Marina and no I'm very sorry. Why are you lookink for dem?" She tilted her head curiously as Hanson took a step closer to her, he watched her closely for a minute before backing off.

"These two are fugitives and are very dangerous. Please let me know if you see them." Hanson said grabbing her hand and kissing it, Karma gagged but quickly smiled when he stood up straight again.

"Well it was nice talking to you Mr. Hanson but we have a broken water pipe to fix, but we will let you know if we see these gentlemen." Sasha said taking his card and waving goodbye.

"Make sure you do ma'am we wouldn't want something happening to such lovely ladies." Hanson smirked turning to walk away as Sasha closed the door behind them.

"Mason put this man on the black list, I don't want him anywhere near my establishment." Sasha said handing the security guard who took the picture his card, saluting he turned and locked the doors before walking away. Sasha sighed and turned toward Karma, "I think he recognized you dear."

"This is bad." Karma said wiping the extra make up off of her face, the group walked over. Karma frowned, "Cups…Black Hat is looking for you…"

Cups and Mugs turned white and looked at each other, swallowing hard. "He knows we are getting close and doesn't like what we've been doing." Cups frowned moving a hand to his stomach where his healing gashes lay.

"Cups, what are we going to do?" Mugman asked shaking a bit when Boris placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, Cup remained silent for a minute before Bendy yelled his name snapping him out it.

"CUP!"

"We…we'll figure something out…." Cups said while looking around at the small group, 'It was nice while it lasted.' Cups thought looking sadly at Karma.

"I-I can only imagine what he's going to do to us." Mugs stammered looking at his brother who sighed running his hand through his hair.

"I'll come up with some kind of plan…this CANNOT continue."

"No WE will think of a plan. Cups, Mugs you're our friends and we're going to help you get through this." Bendy said squeezing Sasha's hand. Karma ran up and hugged Cups snuggling into his chest, "We're not going to leave you to face this alone." He hugged her tightly and let go smiling sadly at their little 'family.'

"I wonder why he was using Hanson…." Boris asked scratching his chin with his clarinet thinking, Cups sighed.

"Because he wants to know our exact location, last time it was just a matter of waiting for us to get settled because he must have already been there waiting; but this time…..we'll be walking into a trap."

*Ch. 8 End*


	9. Hanson

**Ch. Hanson**

Under the setting sun a large brawny wolf darted from place to place, peering around each corner until he got to an abandoned warehouse where Black Hat was waiting.

"Did you find them?" Black Hat asked impatiently, Hanson swallowed hard shaking his head. Black Hat turned his back to the wolf growling in frustration.

"B-But I may have an idea as to where they are sir….I saw that foxy wench in the nightclub not far from here…" Hanson said crossing his arms. Black Hat turned to face the wolf, a look of intrigue on his face. He smiled evilly turning back toward the window.

"Bring her here and surely they will follow…" Black Hat paused chuckling, "Move forward with the plan…you know what to do."

"Right!" Hanson said turning on his heel to leave. As the door slammed closed behind the wolf the warehouse echoed with Black Hat's evil laughter as the shadows cast by the setting sun shrouded the building in darkness.

Not far away, the bustling nightclub roared to life as patrons darted in and out of the doors welcoming in the night scene. Sasha instructed security to stand guard and watch for anything suspicious as she and Karma got ready to go on stage.

"Alright guys you know what to do for the show right?" Sasha asked smoothing down her shiny red sequin dress making Bendy blush, her hips swaying with each step as her dress showed off her curves leaving little to the imagination.

"Yea we know Sasha where's Karma?" Bendy smiled having loosened his tie only to have Sasha readjust it again. He frowned; Cups and Mugs chuckled at him as Boris just beamed in his band outfit.

"Wow Sasha you look beautiful." She gave him a soft kiss on the head making him melt as his tail created a heart causing their little group to chuckle.

"Well at least we don't have to be on lighting." Bendy smirked smugly making the boys huff. Sasha giggled lightly, "I'm sorry boys but you'd be too obvious if you were in the spotlight."

"Um…Sasha I don't know how I feel about going up on stage in this…" Karma said walking up to the small group adjusting her dress as her tail swished back and forth nervously. Sasha beamed in delight as the boys stared slack jawed at the beautiful fox, her black make-up encircled her eyes drawing down to her nose and around her cheeks bringing out the brightness of her sapphire eyes. Her dress draped over one shoulder comfortably as the material circled around under her other arm, a long sleeve belled out at the bottom leaving flowy material around her left wrist. As the material flowed down her body showing off her curves, the front came up mid-thigh as it swung around back over her tail. Over her right shoulder a vibrant orange sash crossed with yellow swirls crawling around it, on her right leg she wore a white legging that came up her waist hiding anything that might be showing underneath. With every step she made a spot click-clack could be heard as her orange heels made contact with the floor. Sighing in defeat she looked up at the group and blushed a deep red as she locked eyes with Cups, he looked like a statue as he stood speechless.

"Cups…?" Mugs said waving his hand in front of his brother's face. Cups blinked a few times blushing as he was brought back to reality.

"Y-You look b-beautiful…" Cup stammered making Karma smile, out of the corner of his eye Cups could see the sly devil smirking at him before Sasha pulled him into a hug.

"Bendy hold on a second dear, Felix can you stand beside him for a minute?" Sasha said taking a make-up kit out of her purse, Bendy and Felix glanced at one another wearily as they did what they were told.

"Karma can you make his hair look like cat ears?" Sasha said randomly shoving gel into her hands as she began painting his face to look more like Felix's, Cups and Mugs watched astonished as Boris laughed at his brother. After a few minutes the girls were done and Felix smiled.

"Hey we're brothers now!" Felix chuckled as he held a mirror out for Bendy to look at himself, he made several expressions before he was satisfied with his new look.

"Awww you look purrfect Bendy! Bendy the Kitty!" Sasha said giggling as Karma kept him from wiping the make-up off.

"Come on Mugs we need to go get the lighting ready…." Cup chuckling before hugging Karma, she smiled and kissed him on the cheek making his blush return.

"Alright boys you know what to do, let's this get this party jumping!" Sasha said ushering Bendy and Boris toward the band and Felix toward the bar to watch for anything suspicious, Karma smiled as she and Sasha linked arms.

"Show time!"

Bendy and Boris head up to the band with the girls chuckling at Bendy.

"Hey! Quit laughing!" Bendy seethes as he twitches his tail back and forth annoyed.

"Ok, ok we're sowy." Both girls get into position and start the show. Mugs and Cups watch the girls while controlling the lights while Felix keeps an eye on the people coming in and out of the joint with Sasha's door guards. The Cup bros nod as they turn the lights off for a moment before the spotlight lands on Sasha as she starts with Karma joining in ("Rush" – Aly & Aj), Cups watches for signals from the foxes as Sasha directs them through the different lights. Bendy and Boris smile at one another as they play through the songs listening to girls as they appease the growing crowd.

'Wow…she's even more beautiful with the spotlight…' Cups thought to himself blushing as Mugs chuckled as the guitars rang overhead before dimming down with the lights. Karma glances up at the boys as she gets blinded by the light as starts to sing ("Chemicals React" – Aly & Aj), her sweet voice carrying the melody making Cups blush like mad. Felix smiles from his spot in the background as he scans the room for anyone suspicious, he glances up at the boys seeing them clearly he chuckles softly as Cups watches dreamily from the lighting deck as his cousin dances on stage. Sasha occasionally glanced back at Bendy who smiled and blushed as he tried to focus; Boris smiled into his bass clarinet as his brother jammed away. As the song began to fade and the lights dimmed again Felix's eye caught a familiar wolf slipping in behind a guard, narrowing his eyes the cat signaled for a couple of the guards to follow him as the last song began to play.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen this is the last song of the evening! Hit it boys!" Sasha exclaims as the guitar strummed to life, Felix caught Sasha's eye and pointed toward the spot where the security guards were headed. Karma smiled brightly enjoying herself as she began to sing with Sasha's melodious voice quickly joining in ("Like Whoa" – Aly & Aj). Mugs noticed the scuttle of security down on the floor keeping a close eye on what's happening as they worked the lights, Cups smiled chuckling a little as Karma winked up at him from the stage. Sasha and Karma both smiled working off of each other's energy as they sang; Felix watched the guards as they apprehended the wolf and threw him out slamming the doors closed behind them. He sighed and nodded slightly at Sasha as the song came to a harmonious end as an eruption of applause sounded from the crowd.

Everyone gave a standing ovation and with all the commotion done with Sasha goes to Felix and asked what was the problem.

"It was Hanson, he made his way in before I got the guards to get him out."

"So he's gone?" The fox asks scanning the crowd for the big brute.

"We can only assume but I think he's going to be waiting outside so neither you ladies goes anywhere without one of us with you." Felix says sternly.

"Ok Felix, boys you too. Make sure one of us is with you because he could be trying to set up a trap. The last thing we need is for anything to happen to anyone. Got it?!" Sasha says pointing a finger at the little group, who just nod.

"Yes Felix we all understand. So what did you think of the show?" Bendy asks straightening out his tie.

"I-It was great." Cups says blushing like mad with Mugs beaming beside him.

"Boris that was amazing!" Mugs says as he grabs him up for a hug.

"Yea…nice job…kitty….hahahahaha!" Cups winks at Bendy as the group chuckles making the little devil flustered beyond belief.

"Alright that's enough! Sasha can I take this make up off now?" Bendy growls looking at the young starlet.

"Awwww my wittle kitty wants to take his makeup off does he?" Sasha says grabbing Bendy's face making him blush. He quickly turns his head a little embarrassed.

"Yes, I would like to be myself again."

"But my dear little devil….you are always your adorable self, you just look cuter as a kitty." She smiles kissing him before nodding, "Yes sweetie you can take it off now.

"Good I will be right back then." Bendy goes to the bathroom to wash off all of his makeup, Sasha watches him disappear pouting for a minute before Felix holds up a picture of Bendy and Boris playing happily in the band and she beams.

Bendy comes back from the restroom looking like himself again when he sees everyone crowding around Sasha.

"What's going on?" Bendy asks curiously, he then gets embarrassed when he sees that Felix caught a shot of him and Boris in the band together.

"Awwww….look at my little kitty! So adorable when you play." Sasha says beaming, Bendy turns away blushing when she notices and kisses him making his tail form a heart as his blush deepens.

~ Fast Forward to later that night ~

"Alright guys it's time to lock up and settle down, I have a private suite upstairs so make yourselves comfortable. I'm going to go get everything ready so come up when you're done down here." Sasha says stretching her back making the bottom of her dress raise a little. Bendy yawns a bit as Boris leans on his shoulder sleepily; Karma smiles and snaps a picture smiling. Bendy catches the flash making Boris yelp as he darts forward trying to grab the camera out of the fox's hand but he's too short.

Sasha leaves to go upstairs as she rounds the corner she is suddenly grabbed from behind and pinned to the wall, "Well hello there Ms. Sasha it's nice to see you again." Hanson smirks holding his paw tightly over her mouth preventing her from saying anything.

"You're going to help me lure you're friends out and then I might let you go." Sasha narrows her eyes growling and shaking her head, his smirk widens. "But first you're going to help me get that wench." She squirms trying to get free when she manages to kick him in the leg. He growls and slams her head against the wall drawing Karma's attention as her ears twitch at the sound of whispering.

"What's wrong Karma?" Mugs asked noticing her ears twitching, she shakes her head. "Um…nothing but I'm going to go check on Sasha. I'll be right back."

"O-Okay Karma." Mugs said watching her worried as she walked in the direction that Sasha went, she disappears from his view but manages to scream before Hanson knocks her out as well.

"KARMA!" Mugs exclaims drawing everyone's attention as he runs toward where Karma and Sasha disappeared.

"MUGS! WAIT!" Cup yells running out after him with everyone else not far behind. They get outside to see Hanson with the girls. Sasha's head is bleeding from where Hanson slammed her into the wall. Karma is out as well but doesn't seem to be hurt. Hanson draws them out to the woods, the boys all look at each other knowing it's a trap but they have to save the girls.

"Hanson…" Bendy growls the wolf smirks dropping Sasha onto the ground but runs further into the woods with Karma still in hand drawing the Cup Bros further away from their friends. Bendy and Boris helps Sasha stand as she looks at Bendy confused, he smiles sadly and kisses her head leaving his brother there to tend to her as Felix and Bendy run after the rest of their little group.

Not too far ahead Cups and Mugs catch up to Hanson who runs into a tree when he looked back to make sure they were following. The large growls rubbing his head as Karma comes to and locks eyes with the brute as she tries to get away. Yanking her tail as he stands he pulls her back to him and holds her firmly not allowing her to move as he pulls a knife out of his pocket and holds it threateningly to her throat.

"Hanson .go." Cups says angrily clenching his fists realizing that if he used his gun he might hit Karma, and that's a risk he was not willing to make. Bendy and Felix see the commotion from a couple trees back, nodding to one another they circle around Hanson out of sight.

"Or what? You'll shoot me? Ha! You'll have to go through her first if you want to get to me." Hanson taunted pulling the knife closer to her neck, "You've escaped me so far my dear but not anymore."

"What is your deal Hanson? All of this because I told you no?" Karma asks leaning her head as far back as she could to get away from the blade, he chuckled squeezing her tightly around the waste drawing her body closer to his.

"Oh it's more than that Karma, no one ever turns me down and now that I have you I'll make sure no one else will take you from me." Karma starts to whimper as she could feel the cool blade lightly pierce through her neck before the knife is suddenly dropped and Hanson's body drops behind her. Felix and Bendy stand there smiling as they drop the large rock they used to hit Hanson over the head with and sigh happily but the moment is short lived as Cups' and Mugs' shouts for help bring them back.

"Cuphead! Mugman!" They yell as the brothers fight against a large shadowy creature trying to pull them into the ground, Karma runs over and grabs a hold of Cup as Felix and Bendy grab Mugs and pulls him out. Karma has tears streaming down her face as she tries with all her might to get Cups free, when all was lost Bendy, Mugs and Felix grab a hold of him and help her free him from the shadow creature.

Boris and Sasha join the group when they hear menacing laughter echo overhead as darkness covers Mugman and Cuphead making them disappear without a trace. It was so sudden that no one knew what to do, Boris's eyes filled up with tears and Karma sobbed into her hands. Felix and Bendy looked at one another saddened as a dazed Sasha leaned against a tree completely confused.

"W-What are we going to do?" Karma cries as the rest of her color drains from her body, Felix gasps noticing this but at the moment she doesn't care, "W-we have to find them!" Felix quickly injects her with the rest of her serum but it was no use her color was gone.

"We have to come up with a plan; we can't just leave them with that monster." Boris says as tears finally began to fall, Bendy nods thinking when Felix notices a piece of paper on the ground with scratchy writing.

"Look! They left us a clue to find them...See you at the machine?...What does that mean?" Felix asks looking at the clue, Bendy's face becomes stern as he realizes what it means.

"It means they have gone to the ink machine. Black Hat figures if he can't use them to destroy us, he'll use them to destroy the machine…"

"We have all the pieces now…"Boris whimpers looking at Bendy.

"I know, and he knows that too. "

"Ugh…we…n-need to go save t-them." Sasha mutters holding her head; Bendy walks over and gives her a kiss as Boris puts her on his back. Felix picks up Karma and walks over toward the others, "We need to get back to Toon Town pronto. But first we should take Sasha to the hospital."

"What about Karma she's…"

"I'm fine Boris, I'm not dead yet." Karma says sternly as they begin their trek back to Sillyvision, with the clue in Hand the boys look on determined as the girls try their best to stay alert.

"We're coming for you guys…Just you wait…"

"You think it's cute going behind my back!?" Black Hat yells angrily as his shadowy creatures throws Cups and Mugs violently against a wall causing the boys to land on the floor in a heap. Cups and Mugs stand wearily, Cups stands protectively in front of Mugs trying to hide him from Black Hat's wrath.

"We're sick of doing your bidding! They're trying to help people!" Cups yells back standing firm, Black Hat smirks evilly and begins to laugh as Cups is grabbed from below and thrown up towards the ceiling crashing into an overhead light before crashing to the floor.

"CUP!" Mugs yells running over to him, but sadly Black Hat didn't let him get that far.

"You think you're protecting your brother from me? You should have just listened to me and did as you were told. But now you'll pay." Black Hat says as Cups tries his best to stand, he smirks making sure that Cuphead was watching before impaling Mugman with a black shadowy tentacle.

"MUGS!" Cups screamed watching as his little brother's body turned black from head to toe as his cheery blue eyes dulled to a dark purple as Black Hat dropped him onto the floor, but little Mugman was not himself anymore.

"Go say hello to your big brother Mugman." Black Hat said laughing maniacally as Cups stumbled over to him placing a hand on his shoulder Cups was suddenly pinned down to the floor as Mugman smirked standing up with his brother in hand before throwing him to the floor away from him.

"M-Mugs?" Cups' eyes filled with tears as he looked into the hate filled eyes of his brother, Black Hat walked over and stood beside the boy smirking. "Time to play Cuphead." Mugman smiled as he fired up his hand gun pointing it at his brother, Cups' eyes grew wide as he stood up and had to run.

"M-MUGS! IT'S ME YOUR BOTHER!" Cups shouts while dogging his brothers attacks.

"Scream all you want he can't hear you." Black Hat smirks as he walks the perimeter of the building, peering down into a gated off room below him.

"AH!" Cups screams out in pain falling to the ground gripping his shoulder, he stumbles forward only to have Mugman grab him by his collar and throws him against a wall.

"MUGMAN! That's enough! Time to change it up." Black hat says smirking at Mugman as he walks over to his brother and steps on his leg, smiling as he hears a sickening crack and his brother's cry of pain. Before Black Hat calls Mugman off Cups looks up into his brother's eyes and sees hate but also a tear…

'He can see everything he's doing!' Cup gasps as he starts to back away.

"Mugman? Why don't you give your big brother a hug?" Black Hat says smugly as Mugman turns to picks up his brother in a literal bone crushing hug before turning to face Black Hat. Black Hat smirks walking up and grabbing Cuphead's chin forcing him to look at him.

"See that Cups? Why would you want to protect your brother when all he does is hurt you?" Cups glares and spat at him causing the monster to smack him making Mugs stumble a little.

"That's not Mugs! That's not my brother! What did you do to him!?" Cups shouted trying to get out of Mugman's grasp.

"Oh my dear Cuphead but it is. The only difference is he is now under my full control and you will be too…You'll be fully conscious of everything you see and do but you won't have control. You'll have to watch as you and your brother you're your friends before destroying the Ink Machine" Cups' eyes widen before narrowing into a glare. "Mugman you know what to do." Mugs moves so that Cuphead is standing straight up, before Black Hat impales him the same way he did Mugs; as Cups starts to change all he hears is maniacal laughter. Within moments his body is covered in darkness, Mugs drops him and takes a step back watching as his big brother undergoes the same change he did. Cups stands up and dusts himself off before opening his purple eyes and smiling at his brother as Black Hat's laugh echoes through the arena.

*Ch. 9 End*


	10. Resolution

**Ch. Resolution**

"AAAWWWW Bendy do you have to go? Why can't I come along?" Sasha whines as Doctor Tige checks her injuries.

"Because you're hurt and I don't know what I would do if something else happened to you." Bendy says making her smile a little, "I appreciate the concern but I can handle myself." Sasha says sticking her tongue out at the little devil.

"I'm sorry Ms. Sasha but you aren't going anywhere with a concussion. Under doctor's orders you are to remain here for a couple of days so we can monitor you safely." She huffs as Bendy smiles shrugging, "Doctors orders Sasha." The fox frowns as she points to Karma.

"But she's hurt and she gets to go."

"Yes but I don't have a concussion." Karma says snickering at the disappointed diva.

"Fine but you better call me when you get to Toon Town."

"Sure thing sweetheart." Bendy says kissing Sasha's hand before waving goodbye.

"We better hurry guys if we want to get to the machine before they do." says a concerned Felix.

"Fine just go." Sasha pouts crossing her arms over her chest, Bendy winks at her.

"We'll call you, bye!" Felix says hurriedly shoving their little group out the door.

"I wonder how Cups and Mugs are doing." Karma sighs sadly.

"I'm sure they are fine, they are tough dudes. They can handle themselves. I'm sure they are doing just fine and that cups is thinking about how to get back to you right now." Bendy said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder squeezing it gently she smiles a little.

"Thanks Bendy, I'm sure your right….I just hope nothing's happened to them..."

"Me too…" Bendy whispers giving her a hug before catching up to Felix and Boris.

'Who knows what Black Hat's been doing to them…don't worry guys we are on our way!' He thinks worriedly keeping a close watch on Karma as she wipes away a stray tear.

"Alright everyone the next train to Toon Town should be here any minute, here are your tickets. We should be at the machine in the matter of a couple of hours…let's just hope the guys are ok and the machine is still in one piece." Felix says handing everyone their tickets, as the train roars into the station Felix grabs Karma's hand and squeezes it lightly. She smiles, nodding to him as she boards the train with Felix, Bendy and Boris close behind. They pick their seats and Bendy spots Karma sitting alone by a window as Boris and Felix sit in the next booth over.

"May I sit with you Karma?" Bendy asks drawing her gaze, she nods.

"Hey bendy…?"

"Yes?"

"How close are you to Sasha?" Karma asks glancing at Bendy, he face flushed with the sudden question making her giggle.

"Um….pretty close…"

"Do you love her?" Karma asks facing him fully, his face a deep red making her smirk as he looks away.

"W-Why do y-you ask?"

"Just curious…You two make a cute couple…" Karma says smiling a little bit as Bendy stares at her a little surprised, "She seems like the perfect fit for you. I mean you work off of one another really well especially when it comes to music…"

"Yea…what about Cups?" He asks trying to change the subject, her ears flatten.

"What about him?"

"Do you love him?" Karma's eyes widen with surprise as she turns back toward the window and nods trying to hold back tears.

"I-I do…and it hurts to know that he's in trouble and I can't do anything to help them…you know?" Bendy smiles sadly he gently places his hand on her cheek and wipes the tears away.

"I know and we'll get them back." He cups her face lightly making her look at him, her big blue eyes glassy and filled with tears, "We're going to get them back Karma…we're going to save them…we're going to save everyone and stop Black Hat." She remains quiet and nods, Bendy pulls her into a gentle embrace as Boris and Felix look over at them and chuckling. Bendy looks over at the two glaring as the two boys 'awwww' at them before Bendy lets go of the saddened fox. As they pull away Karma's ears twitch realizing that Boris and Felix were cooing at them she blushed and turned back toward the window watching as the landscape passed by.

"Now arriving at Toon Town Station." The conductor's voice rang overhead as their little group looked up at the ceiling of the train before catching a glimpse of Toon Town as the train rounds the bend.

"You ready?" Bendy asks as Boris and Felix join them, Karma sighs and nods.

"Let's do this."

As the little group leaves the station, they notice that it's really quiet and then all at once they hear screaming coming from the area where the arena is. People are running past in a panic and Felix stops them.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"T-There are demons tearing up the arena!" Felix looks at Bendy; Boris comforts Karma as she starts to cry.

"What did he do to them?" Felix says under his breath.

"We need to get over there pronto!"

~Fast Forward to the Arena~

Inside the arena darkness reigned, lights were broken as claw marks streaked across every wall. Karma huddled close to Felix as Boris and Bendy led the way, evil laughter echoed through the corridors as they walked closer to the arena center.

"Well, well, well….it looks like we have visitors' boys." Black Hat says smirking from the stage as Mugs and Cups turn around to see the new intruders. They both have evil grins on their faces, their friends are horrified.

"Well, boys lets have some fun….go play." Black Hat smirked as Cups fired up his gun and Mugs cracked his knuckles.

(fight scene)

Bendy's eyes glow red as his body begins to shift, Boris and Felix positions themselves to fight as Karma clenches her fists lighting them on fire.

Cups smiled and fires.

Mugs smirks and disappears.

Bendy makes a run for Black Hat on the stage but Mugs appears out of nowhere punching him into a wall.

The cement breaks and falls to the floor with Bendy's body.

Karma snaps her fingers creating a ring of fire at the young boy's feet.

He growls.

Cups runs after Boris as he darts through a nearby doorway.

Echoing laughter bounce off the walls as a broken light dangles down from the ceiling.

Flickering lights plunge the hallway in darkness as Boris rounds a corner grabbing a broken beam as he hides around the corner.

Cups fires up his hand again. He rounds the corner. Boris slams him in the stomach with a large metal beam knocking him to his feet before darting back to the center ring.

Sitting up he spits as the taste of bronzed nickel filled his mouth. Standing up he screeched. He was pissed.

Wiping his mouth he dashed through the doors he had before cornering Boris as he made for another run.

Boris was trapped.

He took a step back. Cups took one step forward.

The young wolf gulped as his back pressed against a set of broken bleachers.

He smiled.

Raising a clawed hand he went to strike.

A flamed fist punched him into a wall. His cheek was cracked.

Boris runs off as Karma took his place.

"Wanna dance big boy? Let's dance." Karma smirked.

Cups lunged forward with a clawed hand.

She ducked out of the way.

He swiped at her catching her back. She yelped. He smirked.

She ran to Felix nodding as she did so. He punched Mugman in the face and darted the other way.

Mugman caught himself, grabbing Bendy as he did so. He threw him into Karma knocking her on the ground and into Cups' path of destruction.

Her ears rang. A searing pain pulsed in her right ear. She opened her eyes and was face to face with Cups.

He smiled.

She dodged.

He missed.

Black Hat's smirk wavered as the boys suddenly disappeared from view. He was not pleased.

Cups grabbed her tail and flung her out of the smoke and into the third row bleachers. She coughed, trying to catch her breath.

Mugman appeared and punched her through the floor into the lower level below.

Twisting metal broke underneath her as she collided with broken beams and solid concrete. He laughed. She cried.

Cups emerged from the smoke. Black Hat grins for a moment and directs Cup to go help his brother.

Cups picks up Bendy and throws him against the bleachers.

Bendy plays dead.

Cup runs over to help Mugs. Tap, tap, tap, tap, his feet tap loudly as the soles of his shoes smack the concrete.

Mugman jumps down into the lower level with the weak fox. Grabbing her collar he throws her into a wall, a sickening crack echoes.

She winces holding her arm. Mugs smiles cracking his knuckles again, she backs away.

Bendy bolts for Black Hat.

Cups disappears from his brother and hang lines Bendy.

He coughs.

He smirks slashing Bendy.

He dodged.

He missed.

Felix throws something at Cups diverting his attention.

Mugs forces Karma against a wall. His hand squeezing tightly around her neck, she can't breathe.

"Mugman!" Black Hat calls, he jumps back onto the main floor with Karma still in hand.

Bendy dodges a hit as Cups comes after him again.

SLASH!

Direct hit.

Boris signals Felix.

Felix kicks Mugs, he drops her.

Boris swings a broken beam slamming Mugman into a wall.

Mugs is down.

Karma coughs wheezing as she tries to catch her breath but it's not over yet. Black Hat huffs at the sight of Mugman down.

Cups notices but is drawn away from his brother.

'MUGS!' Cup internally cries as his body is called away.

Standing before Black Hat, Cups takes a defensive stance to protect his master.

Bendy looks around at their battered group and nods to Karma, she nods back flaring up a ring of fire around Cups' feet.

Boris runs to fix the machine as Felix runs off toward another part of the arena.

"Cups please you don't have to do this." Karma pleads with Cups standing firm in his position, his eyes narrow at the fox.

They're locked on target.

A solitary tear slides down his face as he jumps through the fire and slashes at her.

She jumps back.

He missed.

As Karma leads Cup around Felix unhooks a hanging light and throws it at Black Hat.

SLASH

The light is gone and but he has Black Hat's attention.

Black Hat grins and lashes out at Felix, he misses and Bendy replaces Felix as he slams a large inky fist into the man.

Black Hat stumbles back and for a second he loses control over Cups but he lets go of Mugs.

Karma's eyes widen when she sees the momentary break before getting punched into a wall. She cries out and He powers up his hand gun pointing it at her head.

She dodges and Felix tackles him causing him to lose balance and shoot at the ceiling. A piece of debris hits Black Hat in the head and he glares at Cups.

He shrugs and Cups is suddenly thrown into the same wall he just threw Karma to.

Bendy's eyes glow bright red, as he slashes at Black Hat who dodges and catches the young devil on his back.

He yelps.

Black Hat smirks.

He growls and goes for another hit knocking Black Hat off the stage.

Black Hat slashes again toward Bendy but he grabs his hand and throws the madman into the ceiling causing the already unstable roofing to creak and shift.

Bendy sees the shifting material and uses it to his advantage.

Black Hat smirks for a moment before surprise overtakes him.

As ink dripped from his body, Bendy held him down with all his might until a loose beam fell.

At the last second Bendy rolled out of the way as the beam impaled Black Hat.

He coughed blood and laughed.

"You think you're rid of me? You'll never be rid of me!" Black Hat smirked looking at Cups who had just thrown Karma into another wall and had his hand glowing blue.

Bendy and Felix's eyes widened.

Cups fired.

He laughed.

Cups turned back to normal.

Direct hit.

She screamed.

He fell.

Bendy using the last of his power drowned Black Hat in ink before passing out and falling to the ground covered in the sticky mixture.

"BENDY! KARMA!" Felix exclaims as Boris comes running up from the machine with a smile on his face.

"Felix I fixed it! The Ink Machine is working!" Felix smiles weakly, tears brimming as he nods.

"B-Boris we need to get them down to the m-machine." Boris's face pales as Felix points to Bendy as he carefully picks up Karma.

Boris runs over to where Bendy is laying, he sees the large gash in his back, he gently turns him over and notice his brother's eyes are closed.

"No…no…NO! BENDY YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE!" Boris cries as he hurriedly picked him up and runs back to the machine with Felix following close behind.

Boris kicks on the machine and holds Bendy under the ink that flows making his body glow a soft blue before fading back to normal. Boris moves aside so Felix could put Karma into the mixture and she glows a soft red before fading back to normal, the two look at one another solemnly.

"Come on we need to get everyone out of here." Felix said placing a gentle hand on Boris's shoulder as he stands cradling his cousin. Boris nods teary eyed and follows Felix back up to the first floor after turning off the machine.

Back in the arena the boys look sadly at the mess, the ceiling has a large hole in it and each wall has a large whole or cracks running along the rims down to the floor. Mugs is laying not far from the hole in the floor where he punched Karma through concrete, his face is bloodied a little with a few bruises and cuts on his body he lays unconscious. His vibrant blue eyes closed tight. Cup on the other hand is not as lucky. He is unconscious as well with a large crack running along the right side of his face down to his chin; large gashes litter his body as broken bones lay untreated and bruised. Blisters develop on his shoulders and arms from where Karma's fire hit him; his breathing is labored and rigged.

Sirens sound outside in a slow wail as Mickey and Oswald appear at the entrance with paramedics and police, Felix sighs sadly as he looks down into the sleeping face of his cousin. Blood dripping through his paws as he tries his best to cradle her blast wound, gashes and scrapes cover her from head to toe with a couple on her face, her white fur being stained red as he holds her.

"FELIX! BORIS!" Mickey called out as him and Oswald ran over to help. Boris is in tears as he holds Bendy's unconscious body in his arms.

"W-What happened? Is everyone ok?" Mickey asks worriedly as a paramedic rushes to Cuphead's side as his partner runs to Mugman.

"We had to fight against Black Hat and Cuphead and Mugman, who was under his control…B-Bendy over powered himself." He paused as the paramedics rushed passed with stretchers with the boys on them as another ambulance showed up. "Boris fixed the machine in time so Bendy and Karma don't have it anymore…" Felix explains as a paramedic gently takes Karma out of his grasp while another takes Bendy and rushes them back to the hospital.

~Time Skip a few hours later~

A soft sigh is heard as Mugman is the first of the group to open his eyes, he squints at the bright light for a second before he adjusts. His eyes are back to a stunning blue as he surveys the room around him. A long blue sheet is hanging from the ceiling with a soft beep of a heart monitor being muffled from behind. He groans as he tries to sit up, feeling bits of pain here and there but nothing he couldn't get passed.

"H-Hello?" Mugs asks getting out of bed, curiosity gets the better of him as he cautiously and quietly draws back the curtain revealing his brother passed out on the bed behind it. His eyes widened in shock as he dropped the curtain and stared at his brother, Cups had several machines hooked up to him with medicine and different colored liquids flowing into him. Beside him the heart monitor beeped every few seconds saying that he's alive, bandages covered the young cup from head to toe as his leg was in a cast and up on a sling. He breathed very shallowly but breathed all the same, Mugs stood in such shock that he didn't notice a familiar fox come up from behind him.

"Mugs, honey are you alright?" Sasha asked lightly patting him on the shoulder, he shook his head and the water works started. His shoulders began to shake as the tears flowed down his face, his heart was broken.

"N-No…I-I'm not alright," He whimpers as Sasha pulls him for a hug, "I-I did this to him."

"No you didn't sweetie, Black Hat did." She paused stroking his back trying to get him to calm down, "None of this is your fault."

"N-No I did it….w-when he was controlling me…I was under his control but saw and heard everything….C-Cups….he was just trying to help…..b-but…" He starts to sob as Sasha led him away from Cups and into the hallway; "He made me hurt him…..a-and I-I'm the reason he's like that…"

"He's going to be okay Mugs, they all are. Come on let's go see your friends." Sasha said just as Raully and Nurse Fanny walked out of Karma's room closing the door softly behind them.

"How is she?" Sasha asked sighing, she patted Mugs' shoulder as they began to talk.

"Well she's stable, the blast wound to her shoulder took a lot out of her but Fanny here says she should be awake within the next few hours. Although…" He sighs and Fanny softly places her hand on his shoulder, he reaches up and grasps it lightly.

"She no longer has the ink illness but her color loss is permanent. And there's no way to get it back." Sasha nods and Mugs starts to cry again, "C-Can we see her?"

Fanny gives Mugs a hug and nods before quietly turning and opening the door to Karma's room. Her room was a lot smaller than his and Cups, since it was just her in there she a little bit more room to move around if she wanted. She was fast asleep hooked up to a heart monitor machine as well, but she didn't look near as bad as Cup. Her left arm was bandaged and in a sling with a couple smaller bandages on her cheeks, her chest was wrapped up in bloody bandages but that was the extent of it. Mugs sighed sadly remembering back a few hours ago when he threw her around like a ragdoll, he looked down and was about to turn to leave when a light cough caught his attention. Sasha gasped making him turn around to see a very tired fox starring at him, she smiled lightly.

"H-Hey Mugs, what's up?" He started to cry as he walked over to her and blubbered numerous apologies.

"I'm s-so s-sorry Karma! I-I…w-we…I'm so sorry!" He bowed his head and shame and cried, she smiled and gently tugged him down to her level and gave him a soft embrace.

"Shhh shhh…none of this was your fault Mugs, all that matters is that everyone is okay." His looked up with large eyes and nodded as she just let him cry into her shoulder, Sasha smiled softly and left the room.

"Hey Fanny! Can I get up yet?!" Karma yelled out to the hall where the bunny was standing, she sighed smiling. Let me get you a wheelchair and you can move around.

"But my legs are fine." She whined and Fanny shook her head wheeling in the chair with a happy Raully and Felix following.

"Hey look who I found wandering around the floor." Raully chuckled as Felix appeared beside him and waved excitedly smiling, happy to see his cousin was finally awake. The cat walked over to her bedside and gently helped Fanny move her down to her chair before kneeling down and hugging her softly. After a moment he stood up and gave Mugs a hug and a friendly smile.

"Come on let's go see the others. Boris, Mickey and Oswald are all in Bendy's room." Felix smiled lightly and wheeled the fox to the next room down, Boris was asleep in a chair by Bendy's beside and Mickey and Oswald was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Oh so you'll chill in Bendy's room and not mine? I see how it is." Karma said sarcastically drawing their attention.

"KARMA! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Felix and Mugs chuckled as Mickey and Oswald bombarded her with hugs, she laughed and hugged back before glancing worriedly at the sleeping devil on the bed.

"How are they doing?" Boris had tear stains on his cheek but had yet to stir as Bendy rested peacefully with his eyes closed.

"Boris hasn't left his side since we go here a few hours ago. Poor dear must have cried himself to sleep." Sasha said appearing behind the little group, she sighed sadly. "He hasn't woken up yet and Boris is worried that he might not." The fox wiped a stray tear away from her cheek as she bent down and gave Karma a gentle hug around the shoulders.

"He's a tough cookie, there's no way he'd go down that easily." Karma said patting her shoulders as she stood back up. The room was silent for a while when Boris began to stir, "K-Karma?"

Karma's ears perked up at her name and turned toward the sleepy wolf, she smiled and rolled over to him. "Hey sweet pea how you doin'?" He smiled sadly and sat up stretching before laying his head back down on the bedside.

"I'm happy to see you're alright and Mugs…I'm happy you're back to normal." Mugs and Boris share a sad smile. Mugs looks down and nods, "I'm happy to see you're alright Boris…I'm sorry about what happened."

Mugs began to cry again, Boris looked down as well before standing up and pulling his friend into a tight embrace. "It's okay Mugs none of this was your guys' fault. Black Hat is gone and we don't need to worry about him anymore." Mugs nodded and happily hugged him back before sighing.

"I-I'm going back to my room…"Mugs glanced at Karma and she nodded, "I'll come to. I want to see how Cups is doing." He nodded lightly and with a solemn face left the room.

*Ch. 10 End*


	11. Happy Endings

**Ch. Happy Endings**

Mugs walked back to his room with Karma carefully wheeling herself behind him.

"Hey Mugs would you want to go get food later..." Karma said trailing off as she entered their room and saw Cups out cold and hooked up to a lot of machines. Mugs sat down on his bed and nodded, "Yea that'll be fine."

"Oh g-gosh M-Mugs...I-I'm so sorry..." Karma said staring at the beat up Cups, Mugs shrugs and stays quiet. She quietly rolls up to Cups' beside and lightly touches his hand, she starts to cry. "I-I knew he was beat up but man...h-he looks awful...w-what did Black Hat do to you two?"

Mugs started to tear up as he pulled his legs up to his chest watching her as she held onto Cups' hand. "He turned me first...I...I did most of that to him..." She turned her head shocked that such a sweet kid could do so much damage. "H-He turned me against him...I wanted to stop...b-but I couldn't...not really...I could see everything I was doing to him but I was powerless to stop it..." Her ears perked and she looked back at Cup.

"S-so he made you watch what you were doing to your friends...t-to us..." Karma rationalized her thoughts thinking back to their fight, ' They couldn't stop...they were forced to...he's a monster!'

The fox turned back to Mugs and saw that he was crying again and she sighed, "I-I'm sorry for what I did to you Miss Karma...I really d-didn't want to hurt you..." She gave one last squeeze to Cups hand before letting go and rolling over to hug Mugs.

"There wasn't anything you could do kiddo...everything is back to normal just about...just try to be happy okay? I know Cups would want you to be." Mugs sniffled and really looked at her for the first time in a long time and his eyes widened, she tilted her head confused.

"What's wrong sweet pea?"

"Y-Your color! Miss Karma...your color i-is..."

"Gone? Yes I know sweetheart...it's a side effect of the illness...remember?"

"Y-Yea but you don't have it anymore right?"

"Right."

"Then wouldn't your color have come back?" She sighed again as Mugman felt her ear making sure it was real fur and not the inky texture from before, she flattened her ears a little and he pulled away.

"Sorry I was just making sure."

"I know it's fine...you should get some sleep sweetheart...I'll be back tomorrow." She gave Mugman one last hug (kinda...I mean she's in a wheelchair with a sling...so...yea...)

"Thank you Doctor..." She smiles stopping at the door...

"You're welcome dear."

~ Time Skip: One week later... ~

"Hey Mugs, Felix and I are going to go grab coffees for everyone you want anything?" Karma asked walking into his room, smiling as he yawned nodding. Her arm still hung in a sling but the brunt of her injuries had healed up quite nicely, mugs stretched as he got up off the couch by his brother's bedside. Since Mugs wasn't the injured they moved Bendy into their room and set up extra chairs and another couch for their little group to sit on when visiting.

"Um...a chocolate milk will be nice please."

"Ok Mugs..." Karma was about to leave the room when Mugs suddenly gasped, Karma's eyes went wide thinking he was hurt when she noticed Cups' hand wrapped around Mugs' wrist.

"C-Cups...?" Karma stuttered as she and Mugs watched hopefully as Cups began to move and slowly open his eyes.

"Mmm….ugh…..Wh-Where am I?" Karma's eyes welled up with tears as she collapsed onto the floor holding a hand up to her mouth she smiled.

"CUPS YOUR FINALLY AWAKE!" Mugman exclaimed happily hugging his brother as best he could, trying to avoid hurting Cups further.

"I'm so sorry Cups! I didn't mean to hurt you! I-I!" Mugman burst into tears as Cups just sat awkwardly letting him cry into his chest as he gently patted his back. Boris and Felix walked into the room holding a box of donuts and some coffees when Karma was helped to her feet by Sasha, she had tears in her eyes as she slowly walked to Cups.

"Ok Mugs you can get off now…It's starting to hurt."

"S-Sorry I'm just excited your awake." Cups just smiles when he eyes land on Karma, she smiles weakly with tears in her eyes she takes ahold of his hand and squeezes.

"H-hey Cuppy..." Cups says nothing and pulls her into a hug. They say nothing for a long time as Karma just lets the tears flow and she hugs tightly and doesn't want to let go, he gently lifts her chin up to look into her sapphire eyes and gently plants a kiss on her lips. She blushes and kisses back lightly before pulling away, a stray tear rolls her cheek and he uses his thumb to wipe it away...the room is silent as the little group just smiles at one another before something draws their attention.

"Mmm….ugh….B-Boris….." Bendy comes to.

"BENDY!" Boris exclaims glomming his brother and snuggling his face.

"I-I thought I lost you!" Bendy just smiles and snuggles his brother back, Sasha clears her throat and waits for the happy wolfy to let go of his brother before smacking him.

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Y-You never called me you jerk! I sell my club and come here and find out you nearly died! I was worried!" She started to cry making Bendy smile a little as she sat down on the bed beside him. He pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair as she cried on his chest, "I-I could't live with myself if I lost either one of you boys!" She sniffled sitting up, Boris patted her shoulder and smiled as she reached up and squeezed his hand.

Mugs and Cups smiled at one another as Karma just sat in the chair beside him, Boris happily wagged his tail and beamed when Mickey, Oswald and Felix joined in the reunion.

"Look guys everyone's alright!" Mugs exclaimed happily, beaming beside his brother.

"That's great to hear!" Mickey says smiling as Oswald looks around at all of the happy faces of their friends. He thinks about Otrensia and smiles to think of how happy she would be to see everything that Karma has accomplished. Felix notices Oswald smile and it makes him smile too.

A few hours pass and Karma is happily telling Oswald about their adventure and showing him all her pictures. He laughs when he sees the one of her and Felix sleeping on each other.

"Hey I don't remember that picture." Felix said curiously looking over Oswald's shoulder as he chuckles a bit, Cups smiles sheepishly.

"I took that one when no one was looking." Karma smirks at him as Felix laughs shrugging it off. As everyone is getting situated for the night Fanny comes in with a very embarrassed and sorry Black Bear behind her.

"I think there is something you need to say to her Mr. Bear." Fanny says a little cross as she folded her arms over her chest and leaves the room.

"Well...um...yes... Ms. Fox...under the circumstance of what happened...I would like to offer you your old job back. And promote you to head doctor." An echo of gasps fill the room as Karma thinks about what he was offering her...she smiled and looked around at all of the proud and happy faces when her eyes lock with Cups...she sighs...

"That's great Mr. Bear...but I'm going to have to decline your offer." Everyone stares in shock at the fox as she walks over and sits on Cups' bed, "I already have a full time job...so I say that my schedule is pretty full..." Cups smiles up at her as she smiles back Mr. Bear sighs and nods.

"Well if you ever decide to reconsider my offer still stands."

"Thanks but I think I'm good." He nods and leaves the room, Mickey yawns as Oswald stretches.

"Well we best get going if we're going to make it to practice tomorrow...Right Karma?"

"Oh right! See you both tomorrow!" Karma waves goodbye as both Cups and Bendy look at her quizzically.

"You're doing a show? But you aren't fully healed yet." Bendy asks as Sasha snuggles into his chest fast asleep, Boris yawns and nods.

"Yes I am...but it's a special show, plus Felix agreed to be my partner so I won't have my left arm as much." She smiled as Felix sleepily raised his arms before putting it back down.

"When is it?" She beamed confusing the boys.

"You'll have to find out won't you?" She said winking before snuggling up to Cups and falling asleep, Bendy and Cups just chuckled and shrugged before falling asleep.

~Fast Forward 2 Weeks: Bendy and Cups are released from the hospital~

"Bendy! Cups! There you are took you long enough! Come on!" Boris and Mugs shouted together upon arrival at the hospital, Karma and Felix had been gone for the last week practicing with Mickey and Oswald for a very special surprise.

"Come on or we'll miss the show!" Boris said picking up his brother and running towards the newly repaired Tune Arena. Cups and Mugs followed close behind until they ran into Mickey waiting at the entrance.

"Heya fellas! You got here just in time! Man do we have something special planned just for you!" The mouse smiled excitedly as the boys grinned at one another, "Come on!"

Entering the arena they looked around and saw that all of the damage that was caused had been cleaned up and repaired. New lights lit up the corridors as fluffy seats filled the stadium, on stage a lone microphone sat as the floor before had colored tarp stretched out before it. At the front of the seating on the very front row on floor level sat a box of seats that were sectioned off just for them, Mickey led them down and had them sit in their seats before sitting behind them and closing the box.

"Mickey what is this about? Where's Sasha, Felix and Karma?" He smiled but said nothing, Boris and Mugman beamed.

"Just watch." After a few minutes of waiting Sasha came out on the stage wearing the same red sequin dress from their night at the club and announced the show.

"Without further a du we invite you to enjoy this performance we made just for you." She bowed and the light shut off plunging them into complete darkness. The music started ("Firework" - Katy Perry) and Sasha's voice sang through out the stadium as the stage before the boys lit up with fire as Felix and Karma began to dance together twirling fire batons around one another. They smiled as Karma's fists flared up as she smirked ripping off her sling and using both arms to create large fire rings that danced between her and Felix, Sasha just smiled as she sang with Felix and Karma involving her in the dance as a beautiful flower of fire surrounded her and burst forth turning into tiny fireworks that glowed different colors. With each beat of the music the fire would change from orange to blue with a bit of pink here and there. At the end of the song Karma and Felix threw up their fire baton before slamming it down on the ground drowning the arena in darkness again before the light came back up. In the audience, what little there was, the boys were in complete awe.

"We would like to end this little performance with a dedication..." Sasha started as she smiled looking over at Karma who bowed.

"To the wonderful men in our lives..."

"We've been through a lot..."

"Heartache and Headache..."

"We love you guys..." Karma smiles warmly at Cups as Sasha winks at Bendy as they finish their little speech together.

"And we wouldn't trade you for the world."

~ Fin ~


End file.
